Before light pierced the darkness, before order emerged from chaos, there was the deep, formless, void, shrouded in primordial darkness. Genesis 1:2 is not a casual description but a theological statement of profound depth: the world awaits God's ordering hand. Here we encounter tohu vavohu, the wilderness of unformed potential, the darkness that covered tehohm, the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God hovering with exquisite tenderness over the waters. Drawing from Rashi's bewilderment, Ramban's mystical theology, Ibn Ezra's precision, the Talmud's cosmic wisdom, and the Midrash's poetic insight, we explore what existed before creation was shaped, why darkness is not evil but mystery, how tehom differs from Tiamat, and why the Spirit's hovering reveals God's intimate, passionate involvement in every moment of creation. This is the moment before the first command, when chaos trembled beneath the wings of the Divine.

Sources & Further Study:

Rashi on Genesis 1:2

https://www.sefaria.org/Rashi_on_Genesis.1.2

Ramban (Nachmanides) on Genesis 1:2

https://www.sefaria.org/Ramban_on_Genesis.1.1.3

Ibn Ezra on Genesis 1:1-2

http://davidblumenthal.org/GenTradIbnEzraRamban.html

Midrash Bereishit Rabbah on the Spirit of Messiah

https://www.sefaria.org/Bereishit_Rabbah.2

Talmud Chagigah 12a on creation and the deep

https://www.sefaria.org/Chagigah.12a

Maharal, Gur Aryeh commentary on Rashi

https://www.sefaria.org/Gur_Aryeh_on_Genesis

Genesis 1:2 with classical commentaries

https://www.sefaria.org/Genesis.1.2?with=all

Deuteronomy 32:11 (eagle hovering)

https://www.sefaria.org/Deuteronomy.32.11

Isaiah 11:2 (Spirit of Messiah)

https://www.sefaria.org/Isaiah.11.2

Jeremiah 4:23 (tohu vabohu in judgment context)

https://www.sefaria.org/Jeremiah.4.23

Isaiah 45:18 (God did not create tohu)

https://www.sefaria.org/Isaiah.45.18

Times of Israel, A Spirit of Creation and Commotion

https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/a-spirit-of-creation-and-commotion/

Questioning Torah, Bereishit: Darkness First

https://mtorah.com/2025/10/13/bereishit-darkness-first/

Hebrew Union College, An Exploration of Tehom in Hebrew Bible

http://library.huc.edu/pdf/theses/Halpert_Rodis_Thalia_N-NY-Rab-2020_rdf.pdf

Merahefet (Genesis 1:2): The Dynamics of the Spirit

https://hrcak.srce.hr/file/38509

Before the first star blazed, before the first wave rolled, before the first breath was drawn, there was God. And then, the Voice. Genesis 1:1 is not a sentence, it is a thunderclap across eternity. Seven Hebrew words that demolished pagan mythology, established divine sovereignty, and laid the foundation stone of all reality. In this master-series episode, we descend into the mystery of the opening word that conceals infinite wisdom—exploring Rashi's grammatical wrestling, Ramban's mystical depths, Ibn Ezra's philosophical precision, and the Talmud's cosmic secrets. We examine the verb that shatters chaos without struggle, the Name that speaks justice into existence, and the totality of heaven and earth bowing before their Creator. This is not myth. This is the roar that began everything.

Sources & Further Study:

Rashi on Genesis 1:1

https://www.sefaria.org/Rashi_on_Genesis.1.1

Ramban (Nachmanides) on Genesis 1:1

https://www.sefaria.org/Ramban_on_Genesis.1.1

Ibn Ezra on Genesis 1:1

http://davidblumenthal.org/GenTradIbnEzraRamban.html

Midrash Rabbah, Genesis 1

https://www.sefaria.org/Bereishit_Rabbah.1

Midrash Tanchuma, Bereishit on the letter bet

https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/137074/jewish/Bet-Vet.htm

Talmud Chagigah 12a on creation and expansion

https://www.sefaria.org/Chagigah.12a

Genesis Chapter 1 with classical commentaries

https://www.sefaria.org/Genesis.1.1?with=all

Vilna Gaon, Aderet Eliyahu on Bereishit

https://beithashoavah.org/2025/08/bereishit-as-history/

Targum Onkelos on Genesis

https://www.sefaria.org/Onkelos_Genesis.1

Proverbs 8:22 (Torah as beginning)

https://www.sefaria.org/Proverbs.8.22

Abraham Joshua Heschel, God in Search of Man: A Philosophy of Judaism (1955)

Oxford Chabad Society, Commentary on the Torah - Genesis

https://oxfordchabad.org/media/pdf/1248/oNmh12486853.pdf

Jewish Quarterly Review on Creation Theology

https://jbqnew.jewishbible.org/index/books-of-the-bible/genesis/big-bang-theory-creation-bara-sudden-expansion/

Impatience leads Sarai to give Hagar to Avram. Ishmael is born, but not as the child of covenant. Yet even in exile, God hears the cry of the outcast.

The Roar of Judah rises with a voice shaped by fire, calling a wandering world back to covenant, memory, and light. We confront darkness with unwavering truth and lift the ancient flame that has carried our people through every age. Join our Torah Master Series Study as we awaken hearts to purpose and destiny.

Avram looks to the heavens, hears the promise of countless descendants, and watches as God Himself passes between the pieces of covenant fire.

The Roar of Judah rises with a voice shaped by fire, calling a wandering world back to covenant, memory, and light. We confront darkness with unwavering truth and lift the ancient flame that has carried our people through every age. Join our Torah Master Series Study as we awaken hearts to purpose and destiny.

Lot is taken captive in a war of kings. Avram rises with 318 men, rescues his nephew, and is blessed by Malki-Tzedek, priest of El Elyon.

Strife rises between shepherds. Lot chooses the lush Jordan valley, Avram takes the hills of Canaan. God reaffirms His promise to give the land to Avram’s descendants.

Famine drives Avram into Egypt. Fear leads to deception. Pharaoh’s house is struck, and Avram leaves in shame but preserved by grace.

God calls Avram to leave his country, his family, and his father’s house to go to a land that He will show him. With this command begins the story of covenant and promise — a man who steps out not knowing where he goes, but trusting the Voice that calls.