---
title: בֹּהוּ — emptiness · The Tanakh dictionary
description: בֹּהוּ (922), a word of Biblical Hebrew, used 3 times: emptiness. BDB 1906: emptiness. With 2 verses in Hebrew, word for word and JPS 1917.
---

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# בֹּהוּ

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«בֹּהוּ» in the Tanakh dictionary: **emptiness** — 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:** 3 times · **Key:** 922 · **BDB:** בֹּ֫הוּ

### Glosses

emptiness (2); of.emptiness (1)

### Meaning (OSHB)

emptiness [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1489/922/#m1)

### Meaning (BDB 1906)

emptiness [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1489/922/#m2)

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**The whole BDB entry:** n.\[m.\] emptiness (on form v. Ges§ 84 a, 1 b Sta§ 95, 198 a, on usage cf. LagOr. ii. 60 f.) always c. תֹּהוּ q.v.;—תֹּהוּ וָבֹהוּ Gn 1:2 of primæval earth; Je 4:23 of earth under judgment of י׳; קַו־תֹֿהוּ וְאַבְנֵי בֹהוּ Is 34:11, the line of wasteness and the stones of emptiness, i.e. plummets, employed, not as usual for building, but for destroying walls; cf. Di \& v. sub אבן 6.

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

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every English meaning of «בֹּהוּ» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1489/922/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.

### In the verses

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[Jeremiah 4:23](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/JER.4.23/)

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רָאִ֙יתִי֙ אֶת־הָאָ֔רֶץ וְהִנֵּה־תֹ֖הוּ וָבֹ֑הוּ וְאֶל־הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם וְאֵ֥ין אוֹרָֽם׃

*Word for word:* I.looked.at (et) the earth and there! \[it.was\].formlessness and emptiness and to the heavens and.\[was\] not light their

*JPS 1917:* I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was waste and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.

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[Genesis 1:2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/GEN.1.2/)

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וְהָאָ֗רֶץ הָיְתָ֥ה תֹ֙הוּ֙ וָבֹ֔הוּ וְחֹ֖שֶׁךְ עַל־פְּנֵ֣י תְה֑וֹם וְר֣וּחַ אֱלֹהִ֔ים מְרַחֶ֖פֶת עַל־פְּנֵ֥י הַמָּֽיִם׃

*Word for word:* and the earth it.was formlessness and emptiness and darkness \[was\].over the.surface of.the.deep and the.spirit of.God \[was\].hovering over the.surface of the.waters

*JPS 1917:* Now the earth was unformed and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the spirit of God hovered over the face of the waters.

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