Common misinterpretations treat this verse as a literal scientific or historical account of the earth's original chaotic state before Genesis 1:2, supporting gap theory with a pre-Adamic cataclysm caused by Lucifer's fall, or as a prophecy of future global end-times events like nuclear holocaust or planetary destruction, ignoring its poetic, hyperbolic context as a warning of localized judgment on Judah through Babylonian invasion for covenant disobedience.
Jeremiah 4:23
King James Version (1769)
23 I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.
Jeremiah 4:23 conveys a vivid prophetic vision of God's impending judgment on Judah for their persistent sin and idolatry, depicting the land in total desolation, reverted to a chaotic, formless state like the pre-creation earth in Genesis 1:2, with heavens devoid of light, underscoring the severity of divine wrath that can unravel creation itself and calling the people to urgent repentance to avert such catastrophe.