Genesis 1:22 (GNV)

Passage

Then God blessed them, saying, Bring foorth fruite and multiplie, and fill the waters in the seas, and let the foule multiplie in the earth.

Nearby Context

Genesis 1:20 Afterward God said, Let the waters bring foorth in abundance euery creeping thing that hath life: and let the foule flie vpon the earth in the open firmament of the heauen.

Genesis 1:21 Then God created the great whales, and euery thing liuing and mouing, which the waters brought foorth in abundance according to their kinde, and euery fethered foule according to his kinde: and God sawe that it was good.

Genesis 1:22 Then God blessed them, saying, Bring foorth fruite and multiplie, and fill the waters in the seas, and let the foule multiplie in the earth.

Genesis 1:23 So the euening and the morning were the fifte day.

Genesis 1:24 Moreouer God said, Let the earth bring foorth the liuing thing according to his kinde, cattel, and that which creepeth, and the beast of the earth, according to his kinde. and it was so.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "blessed", "saying", "bring", "foorth", "fruite", "multiplie", "fill", and "waters". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "blessed" and "saying", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 21's "Then God created the great whales and..." into verse 23's "So the euening and the morning were...", so "blessed" and "saying" 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 "saying" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.