A. P. Lopukhin. Explanatory Bible (Saint-Petersburg, 1904-1913):

The concept of "earth" in the language of the Bible often embraces the entire globe, with the inclusion of the visible sky as its outer atmospheric envelope (Gen. 14:19, 22; Ps. 80:35). It is in this sense that it is used here, as it is obvious from the context, according to which the chaotic mass of this "earth" subsequently separated the firmament and water from itself (Genesis 1:7).

The words “without form and void”, which characterize the primitive mass, embody the idea of “darkness, disorder and destruction” (Is. 40:17; Is. 45:18; Jer. 4:23-26), i.e., give the idea of a state of complete chaos, in which the elements of the future light, air, earth, water, and also all the germs of plant and animal life, could not yet be distinguished by any distinction and were, as it were, mixed with each other. The best parallel to these words is the passage from the book of the Wisdom of Solomon, which says that God created the world from "matter without form" (11.17) and 2 Pet. 3.5.

“darkness was upon the face of the deep…” This darkness was a natural consequence of the absence of light, which did not yet exist as a separate independent element, being separated from the primeval chaos only later, on the first day of the week of creative activity. "Upon the face of the deep" and "upon the face of the waters ". In the original text, there are two Hebrew words related in meaning (tehom and maim), meaning a mass of water forming an entire "abyss"; this is an indication of the molten liquid-like state of the primordial, chaotic matter.

“and the Spirit of God moved…” In the explanation of these words, the interpreters differ quite a lot among themselves. Some see here a simple indication of an ordinary wind sent down by God to drain the earth (Tertullian, Ephraim the Syrian, Theodoret, Aben-Ezra, Rosenmuller). Others — an Angel, or a special intelligent force assigned for the same purpose (Chrysostom, Kaizetan, etc.). Still others, finally, — the Hypostatic Spirit of God (Basil the Great, Athanasius, Jerome and most other exegetes). The last interpretation is preferable to others: it points to the participation in the work of creation of the third person of the Holy Trinity, the Spirit of God, who is that creative and providential force that, according to the general biblical view, determines the origin and existence of the whole world, including man (Gen. 2:7; Ps. 33:6; Job. 27:3; Is. 34:16; Acts 17:29, etc.).

The very action of the Holy Spirit on chaos is likened here to the action of a bird sitting in a nest on eggs and warming them with its warmth to awaken life in them (Deut. 32:11). This, on the one hand, makes it possible to see in chaos some action of natural forces, similar to the process of gradual formation of an embryo in an egg, on the other hand, both these very forces and their results are directly dependent on God.