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 ) .