(Those of you who are) Hebrew scholars immediately recognize the phrase from Genesis 1:2, “and the earth was without form and void.”
Let me say in the beginning that this is not a blog about creationism. I do believe in a literal six day creation as described in the first few chapters of Genesis, I just don’t want to make it my whole blogging life.
About the Name
I first heard the phrase tohu va bohu in 1997. My friend, Josh Seat (then Professor of Communications, now an Agent in the USSS), and I hosted a radio show at The Master’s College on KTMC AM 820. As you might imagine, a more apropos name could not have been selected to designate (and define) our program.
More than that, I always am rubbed the wrong way when I see preachers on television using their name as the rallying point for their ministry. I realize that this does have a few practical benefits, but it bugs me nonetheless. I am not saying that everyone who owns the domain name for their name does so only for ego sake. But the least I can do after almost two years of posting is come up with something better than my initials to identify the blog.
I also suspect that everybody likes Hebrew, at least deep down in that guttural part of the throat. Hebrew is cool. Besides, if nothing else, the name will serve as a regular reminder to me that I best get back to relearning it.
I might further point out that the label “without form and void” does describe a lot of my posts. Oh, I work at the writing and the html code and all that. I fancy this blog as having lots of potential. But somehow embracing the emptiness of my blog seems to ease the psychological pressure.
On a more serious note, the name is germane to the emptiness of life (cf. Ecclesiastes), and certainly applicable to the void of the world wide web. The writing of many blog posts is endless, and excessive devotion to blogs is wearisome to the body. So why shouldn’t I post more to the void?
About the Site
tohu va bohu is (yet again, for like the 17th time) powered by WordPress. It is what it is.
I write in Markdown, and I don’t know why you wouldn’t.
If something doesn’t look right on the site, it is all my fault. Everything I’ve learned about HTML and CSS has been by trial and error. I tinker and tweak for fun, and occasionally that makes a mess (and keeps things from always validating, whatever that actually means).
Contact Me
Tweet @tohuvabohu or email me.