SIX DAYS OF CREATION: BUILD THREE WORLDS, THEN FILL THEM

Without Form and Void, Twice in the Bible

0:56Six Days of Creation: Build Three Worlds, Then Fill Them

Without Form and Void: Only Twice in the Whole Bible

GENESIS 1:2WRITTEN BACKWARDS

PART OF THE FULL EPISODE Six Days of Creation: Build Three Worlds, Then Fill Them

The Claim, Straight

What does the end of the world sound like, in this book? Exactly like the beginning.

Before day one, Genesis describes the earth as formless and empty. That exact phrase shows up only one more time in the whole Bible - when a prophet describes judgment.

What the Text Says

TEXTGENESIS 1:2

Before "Let there be light," this is the state the text describes:

"The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep."GENESIS 1:2 · KJV

TEXTJEREMIAH 4:23

Centuries later, the prophet Jeremiah watches judgment come, and reaches for those same words:

"I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void."JEREMIAH 4:23 · KJV

The Turn

COMPUTEDCOUNTED · ONLY TWICE IN THE WHOLE BIBLE

Search the whole King James Bible for the exact phrase "without form, and void," and it appears exactly twice: Genesis 1:2, and Jeremiah 4:23.

The same picture from Genesis, seen again, in reverse - unmaking instead of making.

When the prophet wants to say everything is being unmade, he quotes page one, in reverse.

The Fine Print

CAVEATThis is a phrase count against the live KJV text, checkable by anyone - not a claim about what Jeremiah personally intended by reusing it.

CAVEATThis page doesn't claim Jeremiah is footnoting Genesis in a technical, cross-reference sense - only that this exact, rare phrase appears in both places and nowhere else.

Questions People Ask

Does any other part of the Bible use the phrase "without form, and void"?

COMPUTEDYes - exactly once more. Genesis 1:2 uses it first, describing the earth before day one; the only other place it appears in the whole King James Bible is Jeremiah 4:23, where the prophet uses the same words to describe a coming judgment.

What does Genesis 1:2 say about the earth before creation?

TEXT"The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep" (Genesis 1:2) - the state of things before day one's "Let there be light."

What does Jeremiah 4:23 mean by "without form, and void"?

TEXTJeremiah 4:23 reuses Genesis 1:2's exact phrase to describe a vision of coming judgment: "I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void." It's the same rare wording, applied to unmaking rather than making.

Sources Cited

Genesis 1:2 (KJV): "The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep."
Jeremiah 4:23 (KJV): "I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void."
That exact phrase - without form, and void - is used only these two times anywhere in the King James Bible.

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