Verse 2

And or But

According to Custance, a consecutive in Hebrew is not necessarily used to express a continuing action, but can also be used to indicate a pause. According to AiG (Answers In Genesis), the word can be translated "and", "but", "now", "then" depending on the whole.

When God in the beginning formed the heaven and the earth, (then) the earth was waste and void, etc.
Peter von Bohlem

But (then) the earth became waste, etc.
August Dillman

But the earth was unsightly and unfurnished, and darkness was over the deep....
Septuagint., (Bagster Edition)

Now, the earth, had become waste and wild, and darkness, was on the face of the roaring deep, but, the Spirit of God, was brooding on the face of the waters,
Emphasized Bible by J.B. Rotherham 1902

If you look at the various modern translations, you see that the verses have REALLY been interpreted without looking on the context. But we must deal with the whole of the chapter.

Was or became

We have now come to the word that the opponents of the gap theory love to take from each other, and not without great words and gestures. The best I have been able to find so far is, "it can well be translated by "became" if the whole requires it" (sic). They make a big deal of saying that you cannot translate it by "became" in that verse. In Hebrew you do not say "the man was good", but only "the man good". If the word "was" were included, it would have a completely different meaning, "that he became so".

But (then) the earth became waste, etc.
August Dillman

Now, the earth, had become waste and wild
Emphasized Bible by J.B. Rotherham 1902

There is also the element that the "was" form does not exist in Hebrew, but only the remaining form, so Moses could not have meant that the earth was waste and empty, but that it became.

Waste and void

Genesis 1:2 And the earth was waste (tohu) and void (bohu), and darkness was upon the face of the deep. But the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

The words "was waste and void" cover more than one might think. Waste can well be interpreted as something that has been laid waste or something that has to do with false worship and therefore arouses God's displeasure. If we look at Isaiah 45:18 it says that "He did not create it to be empty (tohu), but formed it to be inhabited", here Isaiah puts the word empty and that there were no people together, he says that originally God created the earth to be inhabited and not as som expresses it, that it should be empty of people (Genesis 1:2), so there must have been a time when it became empty, as I believe verse 2 expresses, an interruption of the planned order of the earth, with people who walked with God. If we look at Isaiah 34:11 and Jeremiah 4:23-26, where the words tohu and bohu are also used, those scriptures say something about judgment and that it was empty of people, the orchard was desert, cities destroyed because of judgment. If we look further at Jeremiah we also see that the light was gone, here we are again talking about what is written in verse 2 (darkness over the deep). The verses describe a judgment that made the earth empty. When there were people as mentioned in Jeremiah and Isaiah, those scriptures are linked together as describing the same situation, a situation that according to the Bible has not been after the creation of Adam. If there were people before and that they had been judged, God had to re-create the order of the earth and the universe, which I will also discuss in later articles.

Jeremiah 4:23 I looked at the earth, and behold, it was formless and empty, and at the heavens, its light had gone; 24 I looked at the mountains, and behold, they trembled, and all the hills trembled; 25 I looked, and behold, there was no man, and all the birds of the air had fled; 26 I looked, and behold, the fruitful field was a wilderness, and all its cities were laid waste before the LORD, because of his fierce anger.

Isaiah 45.18 For thus says the LORD, the Creator of heaven, God, who formed the earth and made it, who established it, who did not create it in vain, who formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD, and there is none else. 19 I have not spoken in secret, in the land of darkness, or said to the descendants of Jacob, “Seek me in vain.” I, the LORD, speak what is right, declare what is true.

Darkness

Darkness is often used in the Bible to make people aware that God’s judgment is upon them, we see it in Egypt and we see it at the crucifixion (Luke 23:44), the latter was certainly something the scribes knew about, after all they had Moses and the prophets and the psalms:

Psa 105:28 He sent darkness, and it became dark, but they did not consider his word;

Israel and the scribes also did not realize that Jesus had come to save Israel first, just as Moses had come to Israel to lead them out of Egypt. What Jesus says in Luke 22:53, that "but this is your hour and the power of darkness," is somewhat of an echo of what happened when the earth became desolate and empty (see the next article). The darkness that was over the abyss was an expression of God's judgment upon them, to make it clear to the angels who left God to follow their own ways and who were left to themselves and the path they wanted to follow, that it would lead to destruction and judgment (read more in the next article).

The Deep

When we come to the word "deep", many read it as if there was water all over, but it is clear from days 2 and 3 that God separated the waters from the expanse and gathered the waters in one place on the third day, so that cannot be what happened. There was darkness over the deep and not water.

But the Spirit of God hovered over the waters

Job 26.13 by his breath the heavens were cleared, his hand pierced the fleeing serpent.

In Job 26:13 it says that the Spirit of God "cleared" (garnished, fairness, clearness), which indicates that the heavens were in a state that was not as it originally was, and because of judgment on Lucifer and his angels, both the earth and the heavens were struck by judgment. We look at the 4th day, when God restored order to the sun, moon and stars, so that they were given their original place when they were put out of action due to God's anger. (Hab 3.11)

In verse 2 it says "the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters", the word over is translated as on top in the KJV (upon, in, on, over, by, for, both, beyond, through, throughout, against, beside, forth, off, from off), in light of Job 26.13 I believe more that it had something to do with the universe, when it came to its original place during days 2 and 3.

Concluding words

The heavens and the earth, are the words for the ordered and not the waste and empty, which is described in verse 2, which we have seen earlier, from the words waste and empty we see that it is about the earth being tohu and bohu due to judgment, we see this in the use of the words in other verses.

It was such a judgment that made the world waste and empty by the judgment of God's anger, which caused the mountains to tremble and the sun and moon to become dark. We see the same thing at the judgment on the day of the Lord:

Zephaniah 1:15 That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness,

I cannot help but see the same thing in verse 2 of Genesis 1, that the same situation has occurred, then against the angels, but this time against humans. There has never been a judgment where the whole earth became empty of people (Jeremiah 4:25 I looked, and behold, it was empty, and all the birds of the air had flown away;) and therefore it can only be the same situation as Genesis 1.2.

If we look at verse 2 in light of verse 1, then it is not an earth as it was originally, the whole of verse 1 speaks for itself that it belongs to a different time than the one described here. Heaven and earth completed, rebhia (pause) after verse 1, war, judgment and darkness.