Genesis 1:28

28 God blessed them and said, "Be fertile, increase in number, fill the earth, and be its master. Rule the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that crawl on the earth."

Genesis 1:28 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 1:28

And God blessed them
The man and the woman he had made, with all the blessings of nature and Providence; with all the good things of life; with his presence, and with communion with himself in a natural way, through the creatures; and particularly with a power of procreating their species, as follows;

and God said unto them, be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish
the earth:
if this is not an express command, as the Jews understand it, for marriage and procreation of children, it seems to be more than a bare permission; at least it is a direction and an advice to what was proper and convenient for the increase of mankind, and for the filling of the earth with inhabitants, which was the end of its being made, ( Isaiah 45:18 ) . This shows that marriage is an ordinance of God, instituted in paradise, and is honourable; and that procreation is a natural action, and might have been, and may be performed without sin,

and subdue it;
the earth; not that it was in the hands of others, who had no right to it, and to be conquered and taken out of their hands; but is to be understood of their taking possession, and making use of it; of their tilling the land, and making it subservient to their use:

and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of
the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the face of
the earth;
which was giving them an universal and unlimited dominion over all the creatures; of which see an enumeration in ( Psalms 8:6-8 ) .

Genesis 1:28 In-Context

26 Then God said, "Let us make humans in our image, in our likeness. Let them rule the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the domestic animals all over the earth, and all the animals that crawl on the earth."

27 So God created humans in his image. In the image of God he created them. He created them male and female.

28 God blessed them and said, "Be fertile, increase in number, fill the earth, and be its master. Rule the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that crawl on the earth."

29 God said, "I have given you every plant with seeds on the face of the earth and every tree that has fruit with seeds. This will be your food.

30 I have given all green plants as food to every land animal, every bird in the sky, and every animal that crawls on the earth--every living, breathing animal." And so it was.