17. Verse 2 And the earth was a void and an emptiness, and there was thick darkness over the face ¹ of the deep; and the Spirit of God was hovering over the face ¹ of the waters. The person who has yet to be regenerated is called 'a void and an empty earth', and also 'ground', in which no good or truth at all has been sown - 'void' where there is no good, and 'empty' where there is no truth. Consequently there is 'thick darkness', or stupidity and lack of knowledge about anything that has to do with faith in the Lord and so anything that has to do with spiritual and celestial life. This kind of person is described by the Lord through Jeremiah,

My people are foolish, they know Me not; they are stupid children, having no understanding; they are wise to do evil, and know not how to do good. I looked to the earth, and, behold, a void and an emptiness; and towards the heavens, and they had no light. Jeremiah 4:22-23, 25.

Footnotes:

6418. 'The son of a fertile one beside a spring' means the fruitfulness of truth from the Word. This is clear from the meaning of 'the son' as truth, dealt with in 489, 491, 533, 2623, 2803, 2813, 3773, 3704; from the meaning of 'a fertile one' as the fruitfulness of truth, for fertility, like bearing and birth, applies in the spiritual sense to truth and good, 1145, 1255, 3860, 3868, 4070, 4668, 5598; and from the meaning of 'a spring' as the Word, dealt with in 2702, 3424, 4861. From this it is evident that 'the son of a fertile one beside a spring' means the fruitfulness of truth from the Word. Those who belong to the Lord's spiritual Church, the Church represented here by 'Joseph', come to know what good is from truth received from the Word, and so are introduced into good by means of truth. Then follows the fruitfulness meant by 'a fertile one'.