Passage
And God blesseth them, and God saith to them, `Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it, and rule over fish of the sea, and over fowl of the heavens, and over every living thing that is creeping upon the earth.'
Genesis 1:28 (YLT)
Nearby Context
Genesis 1:26 And God saith, `Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness, and let them rule over fish of the sea, and over fowl of the heavens, and over cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that is creeping on the earth.'
Genesis 1:27 And God prepareth the man in His image; in the image of God He prepared him, a male and a female He prepared them.
Genesis 1:28 And God blesseth them, and God saith to them, `Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it, and rule over fish of the sea, and over fowl of the heavens, and over every living thing that is creeping upon the earth.'
Genesis 1:29 And God saith, `Lo, I have given to you every herb sowing seed, which <FI>is<Fi> upon the face of all the earth, and every tree in which <FI>is<Fi> the fruit of a tree sowing seed, to you it is for food;
Genesis 1:30 and to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the heavens, and to every creeping thing on the earth, in which <FI>is<Fi> breath of life, every green herb <FI>is<Fi> for food:' and it is so.
Study Lenses
The verse centers on "blesseth", "saith", "fruitful", "multiply", "fill", "earth", "subdue", and "rule". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "blesseth" and "saith", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.
The nearby context moves from verse 27's "And God prepareth the man in His..." into verse 29's "And God saith Lo I have given...", so "blesseth" and "saith" 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 "blesseth" and "saith" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.