Jeremiah 4:23

tn Heb “I looked at the land and behold …” This indicates the visionary character of Jeremiah’s description of the future condition of the land of Israel.

tn Heb “formless and empty.” This is a case of hendiadys (two nouns joined by “and” both describe the same thing): one noun retains its full nominal force, the other functions as an adjective. The words תֹהוּ וָבֹהוּ (tohu vavohu) allude to Gen 1:2, hyperbolically picturing a reversal of creation and return to the original precreation chaos.