We are introduced to the account of the creation of the earth in Genesis 1:1-2: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep.”
Some scholars propose Genesis 1:2 can or should be translated: “Now the earth became without form, and void… .” as opposed to the common rendering “The earth was without form, and void… .” Many Bible helps maintain both translations of the word hayah are possible. The New International Version has a marginal notation regarding the translation of Genesis 1:2, set within brackets: “Now the earth was [or possibly became ] formless and empty….”
Gleason Archer, professor of biblical languages, comments: “It should be noted in this connection that the verb was in Genesis 1:2 may quite possibly be rendered ‘became’ and be construed to mean: ‘And the earth became formless and void.’ Only a cosmic catastrophe could account for the introduction of chaotic confusion into the original perfection of God’s creation. This interpretation certainly seems to be exegetically tenable” (A Survey of Old Testament Introduction, 1974, p. 184).
Some scholars argue against translating hayah “became” instead of “was” in Genesis 1:2 because they assume this interpretation only recently came about after geology revealed the strata of the earth to be very old. Thus, they consider it a desperate attempt to reconcile the Genesis account with modern geology.
The explanation that there existed an indefinite period between the initial beautiful creation described in Genesis 1:1 and the earth becoming waste and void in verse 2 has been called, sometimes disparagingly, “the gap theory.” The idea was attributed to scholars Thomas Chalmers in the 19th century and to Cyrus Scofield in the 20th. However, the interpretation that the earth “became” waste and void has been discussed for close to 2,000 years.
The earliest known recorded controversy on this point can be attributed to Jewish sages at the beginning of the second century. The Hebrew scholars who wrote the Targum of Onkelos, the earliest of the Aramaic versions of the Old Testament, translated Genesis 1:2 as “and the earth was laid waste.” While the early Catholic theologian Origen (186-254), in his commentary De Principiis, explains regarding Genesis 1:2 that the original earth had been “cast downwards” (Ante-Nicene Fathers, 1917, p. 342).
Other medieval scholars, such as Dionysius Peavius and Pererius, also considered there was an interval between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2. According to The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, the Dutch scholar Simon Episcopius (1583-1643) taught that the earth had originally been created before the six days of creation described in Genesis (1952, Vol. 3, p. 302). This was roughly 200 years before geologists determined the earth to be far older than 6,000 years.
Perhaps the best treatment on both sides of this question is given by the late Arthur Custance in his book Without Form and Void: A Study of the Meaning of Genesis 1:2 states, “To me, this issue is important, and after studying the problem for some thirty years and after reading everything I could lay my hands on pro and con… I am persuaded that there is, on the basis of the evidence, far more reason to translate Gen. 1:2 as ‘But the earth had become a ruin and a desolation, etc.’ than there is for any of the conventional translations in our modern versions” (1970, p.7).
