Original Word: בֹּהוּ
Part of Speech: Noun Masculine
Transliteration: bohuw
Pronunciation: BOH-hoo
Phonetic Spelling: (bo'-hoo)
KJV: emptiness, void
NASB: void, emptiness
Word Origin: [from an unused root (meaning to be empty)]

1. a vacuity
2. (superficially) an undistinguishable ruin

emptiness, void

From an unused root (meaning to be empty); a vacuity, i.e. (superficially) an undistinguishable ruin -- emptiness, void.

Word Origin
from an unused word
Definition
emptiness
NASB Translation
emptiness (1), void (2).

בֹּ֫הוּ noun [masculine] emptiness (on form see Ges^{§ 84a}, 1 b Sta^{§ 95, 198 a, on usage} compare Lag^{Or. ii. 60 f.}) always with תֹּהוּ q. v.; — תֹּהוּ וָבֹהוּ Genesis 1:2 of primeval earth; Jeremiah 4:23 of earth under judgment of ׳י; קַותֿֿהֹוּ וְאַבְנֵי בֹהוּ Isaiah 34:11, the line of wasteness and the stones of emptiness, i.e. plummets, employed, not as usual for building, but for destroying walls; compare Di & see below אבן 6

Semantic Field

בֹּהוּ (bohu) describes an uninhabitable emptiness—an evacuated state devoid of structure, order, or life. When paired with תֹּהוּ (tohu, “formlessness”), it conveys total desolation: first in the primordial creation scene, then in prophetic scenes of judgment. Unlike mere “nothingness,” bohu depicts a tangible ruin that still awaits—or has forfeited—the shaping hand of God.

Canonical Occurrences

• Genesis 1:2. “Now the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.”
• Isaiah 34:11. In the oracle against Edom, the LORD stretches over it “the measuring line of chaos and the plum line of desolation,” a literary parallel coupling tohu and bohu to portray irreversible devastation.
• Jeremiah 4:23. Jeremiah, surveying Judah’s impending ruin, cries, “I looked at the earth, and it was formless and void, and at the heavens, and their light was gone.”

The three texts form a narrative arc: creation (Genesis), judgment on the nations (Isaiah), and covenantal chastening of Judah (Jeremiah).

Theological Significance

1. Ordered Creation out of Chaos

Scripture’s opening verse announces that God “created the heavens and the earth,” yet verse 2 depicts the raw, undifferentiated state that follows. Bohu here is not evil but a canvas awaiting divine artistry; when God speaks, emptiness receives form, fullness, and blessing. Thus, bohu underscores the Creator’s sovereignty: disorder exists only until God commands order.

2. Judgment That Reverses Creation

Isaiah and Jeremiah employ bohu to show that persistent rebellion can drag an ordered realm back toward the uninhabitable void. The judgeship of God dismantles what sin has polluted, illustrating the moral structure woven into the universe. The prophets invoke Genesis language deliberately; if God once subdued chaos to form a habitable world, He can also withdraw His sustaining word, allowing land and society to re-enter chaos.

3. Eschatological Warning and Hope

The reversal implied by bohu is not final for God’s covenant people. Jeremiah’s vision of a “formless and void” earth is followed by promises of restoration (Jeremiah 4:27; 31:35-37). The implication: God can re-create after judgment just as He created in the beginning. Bohu therefore stands as a threshold—either to a condemned wasteland or to renewed creation under divine grace.

Historical and Prophetic Context

• Edom (Isaiah 34) represents implacable hostility toward God’s people. Its conversion into bohu signals total and lasting defeat. Archaeology confirms the long desolation of Edom’s territory—a historical witness to the prophetic word.
• Judah (Jeremiah 4) faces Babylonian invasion. The looming exile threatens to erase societal structures, temples, and fields, figuratively casting the land back to pre-creative emptiness. The prophetic use of bohu validates the historical fall of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. while framing it within a cosmic narrative of creation and de-creation.

Ministry Application

1. Preaching on Creation. Bohu helps believers grasp the magnitude of God’s ordering power. Sermons can contrast the “void” of Genesis 1:2 with the structured goodness of Genesis 1:31, urging trust in God’s capacity to bring order to personal chaos.
2. Warnings against Sin. By tracing how willful disobedience leads society toward bohu, teachers can illustrate the moral consequences of forsaking God’s law (Proverbs 14:34).
3. Counseling and Pastoral Care. Those experiencing spiritual emptiness can be reminded that the Spirit who once “hovered” still moves over chaotic hearts, ready to speak light and life (2 Corinthians 4:6).
4. Missions and Cultural Engagement. The contrast between bohu and the new creation in Christ motivates efforts to plant churches and foster godly order in places darkened by spiritual void (Matthew 28:18-20).

Christological Insight

John 1:1-5 echoes Genesis: the Word brings light into darkness. At Calvary a midday darkness descends (Matthew 27:45), symbolizing creation’s unraveling, yet the resurrection inaugurates new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). Thus, Jesus bears the bohu of judgment to grant His people the fullness of life.

Summary

Bohu is more than an ancient Hebrew term; it is a theological motif that charts the movement from chaos to cosmos, from sin-wrecked desolation to Spirit-empowered renewal. Whether at the universe’s dawn, on Edom’s scrublands, or in Jeremiah’s shattered Judah, the presence—or banishment—of God’s ordering word determines whether a realm remains a lifeless void or becomes a habitation of righteousness and peace.

בֹֽהוּ׃ בהו׃ וָבֹ֑הוּ וָבֹ֔הוּ ובהו ḇō·hū ḇōhū vaVohu Vohu wā·ḇō·hū wāḇōhūInterlinear Greek • Interlinear Hebrew • Strong's Numbers • Englishman's Greek Concordance • Englishman's Hebrew Concordance • Parallel Texts