The Wonderful Workmanship of the World, Discourse · Chapter 22
The xxii. Chapter. The matter of Earthly thinges of what ſorte it was and how commodiouſly by God prepared,
S.
TEll mee then I praye you, what theſe wordes Tohu and Bohu doe ſignifie?
M.
Firſt, they ſignifie ſome vnformed, rude, & confuſed thing, but yet apt and diſpoſed to admitte and receiue fourme and ſhape. And therefore the ſcripture vſeth this kinde of ſpeache, when it will ſignifie ſome vnpoliſhed and vndigeſted thyng, as it appeareth in Iſay, the 34. chapter, and 11. verſe: and the 40. chapter. and 17. verſe. Wherefore, ſuch was the ſhape of the earth at that time, as for the moſt part the Poete Ouid expreſſeth in theſe woordes.
For where was earth, was ſea and aire: ſo was the earth vnſtable,
The aire all darke, the ſea likewiſe to beare a ſhip vnable.
No kinde of thing had proper ſhape, but eche confounded other. &c
Moreouer, as ther are two chiefe kindes of althings, one heauenly, the other earthly: euen ſo at the beginninge God created two ſortes of matter, God I ſay, who knewe well ynough of what and how manifolde natures the thinges ſhould bee that hee would make, and did thē make but preparation for them. For heauen was prepared, as a perfect and heauenly matter, of the heauenly partes of the worlde. And the earth of the earthly, which earth at that time moiſte, wet, & mooriſhe, ouer which the water was ſpread abroad for this cauſe, as it is writen in the 104. Pſalme and 6. verſe. that there ſhoulde bee then onelyonly one bodye extant, conſiſting of two elementes. And as for heauen, Moſes tarieth leſſe time in the declaration therof, what manner a thinge it was at that time, for that it was a thing better formed and compounded. But in diſcribinge the ſtate of the earth, hee vſeth moe woordes. For hee calleth that firſt and material earth. Tohu and Bohu, that is to ſay, a certeine confuſed maſſe: ſuch an one as wee muſt needes imagine it to hauehave been, if a man will in minde take from it that bewtie and order which the Lorde added vntounto it afterwarde.
S.
What, therefore, doeth this worde Tohu ſignifie in the Scriptures.
M.
That which wee call emptie and deſolate, to wit, that wherefore there is no vſe & commoditie, neither bringeth fruite, nor yeldeth profit: and to bee ſhorte, that is woorth nothinge. Whereby it commeth to paſſe, that this woorde is many tymes tranſlated for Nothing: as in Iob the 26. chapter, and the 7. verſe: and in Iſay the 24. Chapter, the 10. and 40. verſes, a litle before the ende. Wherefore, the force and ſignification of this woorde Tohu, excludeth that commoditie whiche at this preſent wee receiue out of the earth.
S.
But what ſignifieth Bohu?
M.
The ſame amonge the Hebrues that wee call vnſhapen and vnformed: and that is vnſhapen, from whiche all diſtinction, order, apte and conuenient placing of the partes is abſent, and that which repreſenteth to the beholders nothing but confuſion and horrour: and yet notwithſtanding, this wanted not all forme, as hauing a name, and beeing called the earth. And thus is it taken in Iſay the 29. Chapter, and 21. verſe.
S.
You tell mee of a merucilous ſtrainge beginnyng and matter, whiche GOD made for the creatyng of the worlde.
M.
And ſuche maner of thyng it was needefull it ſhould bee, bothe that wee might the better thereby vnderſtande the mighty power of our great and good God, who, as S. Paule ſaieth in the 2. to the Corinthians, the 4, chapiter, and 5. verſe, hath brought forthe ſo wonderfull a beautie, and light, and cōmoditie out of ſo great confuſion and darkeneſſe of all thinges: and alſo that that thing whiche was firſt ordeined to bee as it were the matter, receiuer, and mother of ſundrie fourmes, ought to bee ſuche a maner of thing. Although I confeſſe that the earth had it owne proper fourme from the verie firſt moment of the creation thereof, but yet ſuche an one, in reſpect whereof wee take it for a matter vntounto other thinges that might afterward receiue other fourmes. And therefore you ſee how fairely and plainly this matter, this earth (as it is declared) is prepared and diſpoſed, to receiue afterward the fourmes of thinges in it.