Why does Jeremiah say, “I looked on the earth and it was without form and void; and to the heavens, and they had no light”?
This section has two parts: a poem in Jeremiah 4:23–26 that describes a vision Jeremiah has received, followed by a word from the Lord in Jeremiah 4:27–28 that both explains and reinforces the poem.1
The language of Creation in Genesis 1:1–31 is used throughout the poem. The opening line in Jeremiah 4:23 uses the Hebrew phrase tohu wabohu which is also used in Genesis 1:2. The phrase is translated as without form and void,
and is a reference to the primeval chaos that existed before the Lord spoke his world of order and beauty into existence.2 In his vision Jeremiah looks to the heavens, and they had no light.
In Genesis 1 the first step in bringing order out of chaos is the creation of light (Genesis 1:3).
The table below demonstrates the deliberate parallels between Jeremiah’s poem and Genesis 1:1–31.3
The phrase I looked
that is repeated in every verse of the poem also reminds the reader of the Creation account where on each day of Creation the Lord saw
and said it was good.
Only, in the poem there is no approving word from the Lord. The goodness of the Lord’s world is being undone.Jeremiah’s poem is describing an image where the order of the Lord’s Creation is reverting to a state of chaos by his judgment .4
23 I looked on the earth, and behold, it was without form and void; and to the heavens, and they had no light.