Jeremiah Chapter 4 verse 23 Holy Bible
I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was waste and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.
read chapter 4 in ASV
Looking at the earth, I saw that it was waste and without form; and to the heavens, that they had no light.
read chapter 4 in BBE
I beheld the earth, and lo, it was waste and empty; and the heavens, and they had no light.
read chapter 4 in DARBY
I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.
read chapter 4 in KJV
read chapter 4 in WBT
I saw the earth, and, behold, it was waste and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.
read chapter 4 in WEB
I looked `to' the land, and lo, waste and void, And unto the heavens, and their light is not.
read chapter 4 in YLT
Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 23. - I beheld. The prophet is again the speaker, but in a calmer mood. God's judgment has been pronounced, and it is not for him to rebel. He has now simply to record the vision of woe which has been granted him. He foresees the utter desolation into which not only the land of Judah, but the earth in general, will be brought, and which reminds him of nothing so much as the "waste and wild" condition of the earth previous to the first creative word. But why is "the earth" mentioned in this connection? Because the judgment upon Judah is but one act in the great general judgment which, when completed, will issue in a fresh order of things (comp. Isaiah 3:14, 15, where side by side are mentioned Jehovah's judgment of "the peoples" and of "his people," and Isaiah 24, where the judgment upon the enemies of Israel is interwoven with the judgment upon "the earth"). Without form, and void; rather, waste and wild (to represent in some degree the characteristic assonance of the original - tohu va-bohu); more literally, immovable and lifeless. It is the phrase used in Genesis L 2 for primeval chaos. Tohu and bohu occur in parallel lines in Isaiah 34:11, to express utter desolation; tohu alone five times in the Book of Isaiah, and once in Job. They had no light. The heavens were in the same condition as on the third day, subsequently to the creation of the heavens, but prior to that of the luminaries.
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(23) I beheld the earth.--In words of terrible grandeur the prophet speaks, as if he had already seen the consummated destruction; and repeating the words "I beheld," as if he had passed through four distinct visions, describes its completeness.Without form, and void.--An obvious quotation from the tohu va-bohu of Genesis 1:2. The goodly land of Israel was thrown back, as it were, into a formless chaos, before the words "Let there be light" had brought it into order.
