Bible Strands
Genesis 1:22
Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters of the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God addresses the newly created sea creatures and birds at the close of the fifth day of creation.
The words — The directive relies on פְּר֣וּ (pe.Ru), literally "be fruitful," and וּ/רְב֗וּ (u./re.Vu), literally "and multiply," to command biological reproduction.
The thread — This identical reproductive mandate reappears when God commands Noah and his family to repopulate the earth (Genesis 8:17) and when He issues a parallel command to humanity on the sixth day (Genesis 1:28).
Why it lands — The text establishes divine authorization for animal proliferation, requiring the reader to recognize that biological expansion is an instituted function of creation rather than an autonomous process.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.
Cross-references
- Genesis 8:17 Bring out all the living creatures that are with you—birds, livestock, and everything that crawls upon the ground—so that they can spread out over the earth and be fruitful and multiply upon it.”
- Job 40:15 Look at Behemoth, which I made along with you. He feeds on grass like an ox.
- Genesis 1:28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every creature that crawls upon the earth.”
- Psalms 107:38 He blesses them, and they multiply greatly; He does not let their herds diminish.
- Genesis 9:1 And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.
- Genesis 35:11 And God told him, “I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply. A nation—even a company of nations—shall come from you, and kings shall descend from you.
- Job 42:12 So the LORD blessed Job’s latter days more than his first. He owned 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys.
- Genesis 30:30 Indeed, you had very little before my arrival, but now your wealth has increased many times over. The LORD has blessed you wherever I set foot. But now, when may I also provide for my own household?”
- Leviticus 26:9 I will turn toward you and make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will establish My covenant with you.
- Psalms 107:31 Let them give thanks to the LORD for His loving devotion and His wonders to the sons of men.