7. The first state is the state which precedes, both the state existing from earliest childhood onwards and that existing immediately before regeneration; and it is called a void, emptiness, and thick darkness. And the first movement, which is the Lord's mercy, is 'the Spirit of God hovering over the face ¹ of the waters'.

Footnotes:

3961. 'And she called his name Zebulun' means the essential nature of it. This is clear from the meaning of 'calling the name' as the essential nature, dealt with above. He was given the name Zebulun from the expression 'dwelling together', a name which embodies the things stated immediately above in 3960 about 'dwelling together', and at the same time the things meant in the rest of the words uttered by Leah.