Some strange pictures!

Posted 06 Jul 2022

I had an idea for a new Bible Cartoon picture, which shows the Holy Spirit hovering over the formless earth. This relates to the following passage in the Bible:

Genesis 1:2 (NLT)
The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.

Other versions of the Bible are included below, for reference & comparison. [1]

I was particularly struck by the idea of the Holy Spirit brooding over the earth & wondered if that could be drawn. I ended up making the Holy Spirit look a little like a bird, to increase the sense of that brooding. The Holy Spirit is described as looking like a dove when He alighted on Jesus at his baptism (see Matthew 3:16, Mark 1:10, Luke 3:22, John 1:32), so it seemed appropriate to illustrate Him in this way.

The first picture (Version 01) above was my first attempt at capturing what I saw in my imagination. It is more obviously bird-like, with feathery structures in the “wings”. I added the mustard yellow mist in the body, which reminds me of mysterious, other-worldy power.

The second version was inspired by a tornado, with a rapidly rotating, spinning body. I added the lightning to give that sense of power & sudden creative activity.

The pictures weren’t quite what I imagined in my head, but I kind of like the images anyway!

[1]
Below are some different interpretations/translations of Genesis 1:2. Notice the words “hovering” & “brooding” in some of them.

Genesis 1:2 (MSG)
2 Earth was a soup of nothingness, a bottomless emptiness, an inky blackness. God’s Spirit brooded like a bird above the watery abyss.

Genesis 1:2 (AMP)
2 The earth was without form and an empty waste, and darkness was upon the face of the very great deep. The Spirit of God was moving (hovering, brooding) over the face of the waters.

Genesis 1:2 (ANIV)
2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

Genesis 1:2 (KJV)
2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

Genesis 1:2 (ESV)
2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

Genesis 1:2 (RSV)
2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters.

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