תהו ובהוTohu and Bohu

tohu va-vohuIn Gamatria ↗

Confusion first, then something that holds.

R. Berechiah reads Genesis 1:2 closely: 'the earth was tohu and bohu' means tohu already existed. Tohu is what bewilders (metaheh) people. Bohu has substance, read as bo hu, 'it is in it'. Tohu came first and turned into bohu. Later sections pair the two with Ecclesiastes' 'one opposite the other': bohu was set in peace and tohu in evil, as in Isaiah's 'makes peace and creates evil'. Peace is pictured in the heights, with Michael on God's right holding water, Gabriel on the left holding fire, and a prince of peace deciding between them.

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