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:

6234. 'And now your two sons born to you in the land of Egypt' means goodness and truth within the natural that come from the internal. This is clear from the representation of Manasseh and Ephraim, to whom 'two sons' refers here, as the Church's will and the Church's understanding within the natural, which are born from the internal, dealt with above in 6222 (and since good belongs to the will and truth to the understanding, the Church's goodness and truth are meant by those same sons); from the meaning of 'born to you' - to Joseph - as that come from the internal; and from the meaning of 'the land of Egypt' as the natural mind where the Church's factual knowledge resides, dealt with in 5176, 5178, 5280, 5288, 5301, and as the natural, 6147.