---
title: תֹּהוּ — formlessness · The Tanakh dictionary
description: תֹּהוּ (8414), a word of Biblical Hebrew, used 20 times: formlessness. BDB 1906: n.m. formlessness, confusion, unreality, emptiness. With 2 verses in Hebrew, word for word and JPS 1917.
---

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# תֹּהוּ

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«תֹּהוּ» in the Tanakh dictionary: **formlessness** — how often it is used, MACULA's glosses, its meanings in the printed dictionaries and why they were chosen, and 2 verses in layers.

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**Used:** 20 times · **Key:** 8414 · **BDB:** תֹּ֫הוּ

### Glosses

emptiness (7); a.wasteland (4); nothingness (2)

### Meaning (OSHB)

formlessness [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1514/8414/#m1)

### Meaning (BDB 1906)

n.m. formlessness, confusion, unreality, emptiness [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1514/8414/#m2)

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**The whole BDB entry:** n.m. 1 S 12, 21 (AlbrZAW xvi (1896), 112) formlessness, confusion, unreality, emptiness (primary meaning difficult to seize; Vrss usually κενόν, οὐδέν, μάταιον, inane, vacuum, vanum; cf. LagOr. ii. 60; BN 144);— formlessness, of primaeval earth Gn 1:2 (P), of land reduced to primaeval chaos Je 4:23 (both + וָבֹהוּ and voidness), Is 34:11 קַו־תֿ׳ (‖ אבְנֵי בֹהוּ), 45:18 לֹא ת׳ בְרָאָהּ (‖ לָשֶׁבֶת יְצָרָהּ); 24:10 קִרְיַת־תּ׳ city of chaos (of ruined city); = nothingness, empty space, Jb 26:7 נֹטֶה צָפן עַל־תּ׳; of empty, trackless waste Dt 32:10 (‖ מִדְבָּר), Jb 6:18; 12:24 = ψ 107:40. fig. of what is empty, unreal, as idols 1 S 12:21 (coll.: אַחֲרֵי הַתּ׳ אֲשֶׁר לֹא יוֹעִילוּ), v 21 Is 41:29 רוּחַ וָת׳ נִסְכֵּיהֶם, 44:9 (of idol-makers), groundless arguments or considerations, Is 29:21 וַיַּטּוּ בַתּ׳ צַדִּיק, 59:4 moral unreality or falsehood בָּטוֹהַ עַל־תּ׳ (‖ וְדַבֶּר־שָׁוְא); = a thing of nought (cf. Ecclus 41:10 מתהו אל תהו), Is 40:17 (‖ אַיִן, אֶפֶס), v 23 שֹׁפְטֵי אֶרֶץ כַּתּ׳ עָשָׂה (‖ לְאַיִן), worthlessness 49:4 לְת׳ וְהֶבֶל כֹּחִי כִלֵּיתִי (‖ לְרִיק יָגַעְתִּי); as adv. acc. 45:19 I said not, תֹּהוּ בַקְּשׁוּנִי seek me emptily, to no purpose. cf. 29:13 𝔊 וְתֹהוּ for וַתֹּהִי.

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Why these entries: BDB: headword, part of speech agrees, 19 of its verses cited, 2 words shared with the glosses, lists its Strong's number (4 candidates); OSHB: headword, part of speech agrees, 1 words shared with the BDB entry, 1 with the glosses (3 candidates)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every English meaning of «תֹּהוּ» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1514/8414/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.

### In the verses

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[Isaiah 24:10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/ISA.24.10/)

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נִשְׁבְּרָ֖ה קִרְיַת־תֹּ֑הוּ סֻגַּ֥ר כָּל־בַּ֖יִת מִבּֽוֹא׃

*Word for word:* it.has.been.broken \[the\].town of.formlessness it.has.been.shut.up every house from entering

*JPS 1917:* Broken down is the city of wasteness; every house is shut up, that none may come in.

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[Job 26:7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/JOB.26.7/)

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נֹטֶ֣ה צָפ֣וֹן עַל־תֹּ֑הוּ תֹּ֥לֶה אֶ֝֗רֶץ עַל־בְּלִי־מָֽה׃

*Word for word:* \[he.is\].stretching.out \[the\].north over emptiness \[he.is\].hanging \[the\].earth on not whatever

*JPS 1917:* He stretcheth out the north over the empty space, and hangeth the earth over nothing.

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