8414. tohu
Lexical Summary
tohu: Formlessness, emptiness, confusion, chaos, nothingness

Original Word: תֹּהוּ
Part of Speech: Noun Masculine
Transliteration: tohuw
Pronunciation: TOH-hoo
Phonetic Spelling: (to'-hoo)
KJV: confusion, empty place, without form, nothing, (thing of) nought, vain, vanity, waste, wilderness
NASB: waste, formless, futile, meaningless, nothing, waste place, chaos
Word Origin: [from an unused root meaning to lie waste]

1. a desolation (of surface), i.e. desert
2. (figuratively) a worthless thing
3. adverbially, in vain

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
Tidal

From an unused root meaning to lie waste; a desolation (of surface), i.e. Desert; figuratively, a worthless thing; adverbially, in vain -- confusion, empty place, without form, nothing, (thing of) nought, vain, vanity, waste, wilderness.

NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Origin
from an unused word
Definition
formlessness, confusion, unreality, emptiness
NASB Translation
chaos (1), confusion (1), desolation (1), emptiness (1), empty space (1), formless (2), futile (2), futile things (1), meaningless (2), meaningless arguments (1), nothing (2), waste (3), waste place (2).

Brown-Driver-Briggs
תֹּ֫הוּ noun masculine1Samuel 12:21 (AlbrZAW xvi (1896), 112) formlessness, confusion, unreality, emptiness (primary meaning difficult to seize; Vrss usually Κενόν, οὐδέν, μάταιον, inane, vacuum, vanum; compare LagOr. ii. 60; BN 144); —

1 formlessness, of primaeval earth Genesis 1:2 (P), of land reduced to primaeval chaos Jeremiah 4:23 (both + וָבֹהוּ and voidness), Isaiah 34:11 ׳קַותֿֿ ("" אַבְנֵי בֹהוּ), Isaiah 45:18 בְרָאָהּ ׳לֹא ת ("" לָשֶׁבֶת יְצָרָתּ); Isaiah 24:10 ׳קִרְיַתאתּ city of chaos (of ruined city); = nothingness, empty space, Job 26:7 תֹּלֶה אֶרֶץ ׳עַלתּֿ; of empty, trackless waste Deuteronomy 32:10 ("" מִדְבָּר), Job 6:18; Job 12:24 = Psalm 107:40.

2 figurative of what is empty, unreal, as idols 1 Samuel 12:21 (collective: אֲשֶׁר ׳אַחֲרֵי הַתּ לֹא יוֺעִילוּ), 1 Samuel 12:21; Isaiah 41:29 נִסְכֵּיהֶם ׳רוּחַ וָת, Isaiah 44:9 (of idol-makers), groundless arguments or considerations, Isaiah 29:21 צַדִּיק ׳וַיַּטּוּ בַתּ, Isaiah 59:4 moral unreality or falsehood ׳בָּטוֺחַ עַלאתּ ("" וְדַבֶּרשָֿׁוְא); = a thing of nought (compare Ecclus 41:10 מתהו אל תהו), Isaiah 40:17 ("" אַיִן אֶפֶס), Isaiah 40:23 עָשָׂה ׳שֹׁפְטֵי אֶרֶץ כַּתּ ("" לְאַיִן), worthlessness Isaiah 49:19 וְהֶבֶל כֹּחִי כִלֵּיתִי ׳לְת ("" לְרִיק יָגַעְתִּי); as adverb accusative Isaiah 45:19 I said not, תֹּהוּ בַקְּשׁוּנִי seek me emptily, to no purpose. compare Isaiah 29:13 ᵐ5 וְתֹהוּ for וַתְּהִי.

Topical Lexicon
Semantic Range and Imagery

תֹהוּ evokes a scene of shapelessness, desolation, and futility. The word is often paired with בֹּהוּ (“void”) or with verbs of wasting and overthrowing. It can describe physical barrenness, moral emptiness, political ruin, or spiritual vanity. In each context, תֹהוּ stands as the polar opposite of God’s ordered purpose.

Creation: The Formless Deep

Genesis 1:2 sets the theological baseline: “Now the earth was formless and void, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” The verse is not a concession to chaos mythology; rather, it highlights the power of God to bring cosmos out of תֹהוּ. All later uses of the word echo this primal contrast between what humanity can effect (emptiness) and what God alone accomplishes (order).

Wilderness Care and Covenantal Grace

Deuteronomy 32:10 recalls Israel’s infancy: “He found him in a desert land, in a barren, howling waste. He shielded him and cared for him.” God’s shepherding love transforms the wilderness of תֹהוּ into a training ground for covenant loyalty—proof that no wasteland is beyond divine redemption.

Vanity of Idolatry

When Samuel warns Israel, “Do not turn aside, for then you would go after futile things which cannot profit or deliver” (1 Samuel 12:21), תֹהוּ is applied to false gods. Isaiah expands the theme: “Those who fashion idols are all nothing, and their precious treasures are worthless” (Isaiah 44:9). The prophets thus expose idolatry as spiritual emptiness, incapable of yielding salvation.

National Judgment and Political Upheaval

Isaiah employs תֹהוּ repeatedly to portray coming devastation. “He brings the princes to nothing and makes the judges of the earth meaningless” (Isaiah 40:23). Cities like “the city of chaos” (Isaiah 24:10) become symbols of societal dissolution when nations rebel against divine sovereignty. Jeremiah 4:23 deliberately echoes Genesis 1:2 to depict Judah’s uncreation: “I looked at the earth, and it was formless and void; and at the heavens, and their light was gone.” Apostasy drags creation back toward chaos.

Cosmic Insignificance Apart from God

Isaiah 40:17 universalizes the term: “All the nations are as nothing before Him; He regards them as nothingness and emptiness.” Human glory detached from the Creator amounts to תֹהוּ—impressive in appearance yet weightless in eternal value.

The Servant’s Apparent Failure

Isaiah 49:4 captures the Messiah’s lament: “I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength in futility and vanity, yet surely my vindication is with the LORD.” The verse anticipates the cross, where apparent failure becomes redemptive triumph, proving that God alone converts תֹהוּ into glory.

Divine Purpose Established

Against every instance of emptiness stands Isaiah 45:18: “For thus says the LORD, who created the heavens—He is God; He formed the earth and established it; He did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited.” Creation’s goal is relational fullness, not sterile vacancy. God’s redemptive plan guarantees that תֹהוּ will never have the final word.

Pastoral and Missional Implications

1. Preaching should contrast human futility with divine purpose, calling hearers from self-made chaos into Christ-centered order.
2. Disciple-making turns spiritual wastelands into inhabited places, mirroring Israel’s journey from wilderness to promised land.
3. Social engagement must expose the emptiness of modern idolatries—materialism, relativism, self-exaltation—offering the gospel as the only remedy for תֹהוּ.
4. Personal suffering, perceived as “vain labor,” gains meaning in union with the Suffering Servant, whose apparent futility secured eternal fruit.

Summary

תֹהוּ is Scripture’s sober reminder that life apart from God reverts to formless desolation. Yet every usage also testifies that God confronts and overcomes such emptiness. From the Spirit hovering in Genesis to the new creation promised in Isaiah, the Bible moves inexorably from תֹהוּ to τέλειος—full, perfect completion in Christ.

Forms and Transliterations
בְּתֹ֣הוּ בַתֹּ֖הוּ בַתֹּ֣הוּ בתהו הַתֹּ֗הוּ התהו וָתֹ֖הוּ וּבְתֹ֖הוּ ובתהו ותהו כַּתֹּ֥הוּ כתהו לְתֹ֥הוּ לתהו תֹ֖הוּ תֹ֙הוּ֙ תֹ֥הוּ תֹּ֑הוּ תֹּ֔הוּ תֹּ֙הוּ֙ תֹּ֣הוּ תהו ḇat·tō·hū ḇattōhū bə·ṯō·hū beTohu bəṯōhū hat·tō·hū hatTohu hattōhū kat·tō·hū katTohu kattōhū lə·ṯō·hū leTohu ləṯōhū tō·hū ṯō·hū tohu tōhū ṯōhū ū·ḇə·ṯō·hū ūḇəṯōhū uveTohu vaTohu vatTohu wā·ṯō·hū wāṯōhū
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Interlinear GreekInterlinear HebrewStrong's NumbersEnglishman's Greek ConcordanceEnglishman's Hebrew ConcordanceParallel Texts
Englishman's Concordance
Genesis 1:2
HEB: וְהָאָ֗רֶץ הָיְתָ֥ה תֹ֙הוּ֙ וָבֹ֔הוּ וְחֹ֖שֶׁךְ
NAS: The earth was formless and void,
KJV: was without form, and void;
INT: the earth was was formless and void and darkness

Deuteronomy 32:10
HEB: בְּאֶ֣רֶץ מִדְבָּ֔ר וּבְתֹ֖הוּ יְלֵ֣ל יְשִׁמֹ֑ן
NAS: And in the howling waste of a wilderness;
KJV: land, and in the waste howling
INT: land A desert waste the howling of a wilderness

1 Samuel 12:21
HEB: כִּ֣י ׀ אַחֲרֵ֣י הַתֹּ֗הוּ אֲשֶׁ֧ר לֹֽא־
NAS: for [then you would go] after futile things
KJV: for [then should ye go] after vain [things], which cannot profit
INT: because after futile which not

1 Samuel 12:21
HEB: יַצִּ֖ילוּ כִּי־ תֹ֥הוּ הֵֽמָּה׃
NAS: futile things which
KJV: nor deliver; for they [are] vain.
INT: deliver because things like

Job 6:18
HEB: דַּרְכָּ֑ם יַעֲל֖וּ בַתֹּ֣הוּ וְיֹאבֵֽדוּ׃
NAS: They go up into nothing and perish.
KJV: they go to nothing, and perish.
INT: of their course go nothing and perish

Job 12:24
HEB: הָאָ֑רֶץ וַ֝יַּתְעֵ֗ם בְּתֹ֣הוּ לֹא־ דָֽרֶךְ׃
NAS: in a pathless waste.
KJV: and causeth them to wander in a wilderness [where there is] no way.
INT: of the earth's wander waste no way

Job 26:7
HEB: צָפ֣וֹן עַל־ תֹּ֑הוּ תֹּ֥לֶה אֶ֝֗רֶץ
NAS: over empty space And hangs
KJV: the north over the empty place, [and] hangeth
INT: the north over empty and hangs the earth

Psalm 107:40
HEB: נְדִיבִ֑ים וַ֝יַּתְעֵ֗ם בְּתֹ֣הוּ לֹא־ דָֽרֶךְ׃
NAS: in a pathless waste.
KJV: and causeth them to wander in the wilderness, [where there is] no way.
INT: princes wander waste no way

Isaiah 24:10
HEB: נִשְׁבְּרָ֖ה קִרְיַת־ תֹּ֑הוּ סֻגַּ֥ר כָּל־
NAS: The city of chaos is broken down;
KJV: The city of confusion is broken down:
INT: is broken the city of chaos is shut Every

Isaiah 29:21
HEB: יְקֹשׁ֑וּן וַיַּטּ֥וּ בַתֹּ֖הוּ צַדִּֽיק׃ ס
NAS: the one in the right with meaningless arguments.
KJV: the just for a thing of nought.
INT: and ensnare and defraud meaningless the one

Isaiah 34:11
HEB: עָלֶ֛יהָ קַֽו־ תֹ֖הוּ וְאַבְנֵי־ בֹֽהוּ׃
NAS: it the line of desolation And the plumb line
KJV: upon it the line of confusion, and the stones
INT: over the line of desolation and the plumb of emptiness

Isaiah 40:17
HEB: נֶגְדּ֑וֹ מֵאֶ֥פֶס וָתֹ֖הוּ נֶחְשְׁבוּ־ לֽוֹ׃
NAS: than nothing and meaningless.
KJV: to him less than nothing, and vanity.
INT: before less and meaningless are regarded

Isaiah 40:23
HEB: שֹׁ֥פְטֵי אֶ֖רֶץ כַּתֹּ֥הוּ עָשָֽׂה׃
NAS: the judges of the earth meaningless.
KJV: the judges of the earth as vanity.
INT: the judges of the earth meaningless makes

Isaiah 41:29
HEB: מַעֲשֵׂיהֶ֑ם ר֥וּחַ וָתֹ֖הוּ נִסְכֵּיהֶֽם׃ פ
NAS: are wind and emptiness.
KJV: [are] wind and confusion.
INT: their works are wind and emptiness their molten

Isaiah 44:9
HEB: פֶ֤סֶל כֻּלָּם֙ תֹּ֔הוּ וַחֲמוּדֵיהֶ֖ם בַּל־
NAS: are all of them futile, and their precious things
KJV: a graven image [are] all of them vanity; and their delectable things
INT: A graven are all futile and their precious no

Isaiah 45:18
HEB: כֽוֹנְנָ֔הּ לֹא־ תֹ֥הוּ בְרָאָ֖הּ לָשֶׁ֣בֶת
NAS: it [and] did not create it a waste place, [but] formed
KJV: it, he created it not in vain, he formed
INT: established not a waste create to be inhabited

Isaiah 45:19
HEB: לְזֶ֥רַע יַעֲקֹ֖ב תֹּ֣הוּ בַקְּשׁ֑וּנִי אֲנִ֤י
NAS: Seek Me in a waste place; I, the LORD,
KJV: Seek ye me in vain: I the LORD
INT: to the offspring of Jacob a waste Seek I

Isaiah 49:4
HEB: לְרִ֣יק יָגַ֔עְתִּי לְתֹ֥הוּ וְהֶ֖בֶל כֹּחִ֣י
NAS: My strength for nothing and vanity;
KJV: my strength for nought, and in vain:
INT: vain have toiled nothing and vanity my strength

Isaiah 59:4
HEB: בָּט֤וֹחַ עַל־ תֹּ֙הוּ֙ וְדַבֶּר־ שָׁ֔וְא
NAS: They trust in confusion and speak
KJV: they trust in vanity, and speak
INT: trust in confusion and speak lies

Jeremiah 4:23
HEB: הָאָ֔רֶץ וְהִנֵּה־ תֹ֖הוּ וָבֹ֑הוּ וְאֶל־
NAS: and behold, [it was] formless and void;
KJV: the earth, and, lo, [it was] without form, and void;
INT: the earth and behold formless and void and to

20 Occurrences

Strong's Hebrew 8414
20 Occurrences


bə·ṯō·hū — 2 Occ.
hat·tō·hū — 1 Occ.
kat·tō·hū — 1 Occ.
lə·ṯō·hū — 1 Occ.
ṯō·hū — 10 Occ.
ū·ḇə·ṯō·hū — 1 Occ.
wā·ṯō·hū — 2 Occ.
ḇat·tō·hū — 2 Occ.

8413
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