Genesis 1:28 (DBY)

Passage

And God blessed them; and God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the heavens, and over every animal that moveth on the earth.

Nearby Context

Genesis 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the heavens, and over the cattle, and over the whole earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth on the earth.

Genesis 1:27 And God created Man in his image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

Genesis 1:28 And God blessed them; and God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the heavens, and over every animal that moveth on the earth.

Genesis 1:29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb producing seed that is on the whole earth, and every tree in which is the fruit of a tree producing seed: it shall be food for you;

Genesis 1:30 and to every animal of the earth, and to every fowl of the heavens, and to everything that creepeth on the earth, in which is a living soul, every green herb for food. And it was so.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "blessed", "said", "fruitful", "multiply", "fill", "earth", "subdue", and "dominion". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "blessed" and "said", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 27's "And God created Man in his image..." into verse 29's "And God said Behold I have given...", so "blessed" and "said" belong inside that flow. In Genesis context, the local focus is creation, human rebellion, covenant promise, and God's providence.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "blessed" and "said" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.