Genesis 1:22

And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
God	אֱלֹהִ֖ים 'E.lo.Him	H430	gods in the ordinary sense · noun, common masculine plural absolute
blessed	וַיְבָ֧רֶךְ vay.Va.rekh	H1288	to kneel · conjunction + verb, piel sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
saying	לֵאמֹ֑ר le.Mor	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
fruitful	פְּר֣וּ pe.Ru	H6509	to bear fruit (literally or figuratively) · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine plural
multiply	וּרְב֗וּ u.re.Vu	H7235	to increase (in whatever respect) · conjunction + verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine plural
fill	וּמִלְא֤וּ u.mil.'U	H4390	to fill or (intransitively) be full of · conjunction + verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine plural
waters	הַמַּ֙יִם֙ ha.Ma.yim	H4325	water · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
seas	בַּיַּמִּ֔ים bai.ya.Mim	H3220	a sea (as breaking in noisy surf) or large body of water · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
fowl	וְהָע֖וֹף ve.ha.'of	H5775	a bird (as covered with feathers · conjunction + definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
multiply	יִ֥רֶב Yi.rev	H7235	to increase (in whatever respect) · verb, qal jussive, 3rd person masculine singular
earth	בָּאָֽרֶץ ba.'A.retz	H776	the earth (at large · preposition with the article + noun, common feminine singular absolute

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Genesis 8:17 Bring forth with thee every living thing that is with thee, of all flesh, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of every creeping thing that cree…
Job 40:15 Behold now behemoth, which I made with thee; he eateth grass as an ox.
Genesis 1:28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the…
Psalms 107:38 He blesseth them also, so that they are multiplied greatly; and suffereth not their cattle to decrease.
Genesis 9:1 And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.
Genesis 35:11 And God said unto him, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come…
Job 42:12 So the LORD blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning: for he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousa…
Genesis 30:30 For it was little which thou hadst before I came, and it is now increased unto a multitude; and the LORD hath blessed thee since my coming:…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 1:20-23

Each day, hitherto, has produced very noble and excellent beings, which we can never sufficiently admire; but we do not read of the creation of any living creature till the fifth day, of which these verses give us an account. The work of creation not only proceeded gradually from one thing to another, but rose and advanced gradually from that which was less excellent to that which was more so, teaching us to press towards perfection and endeavour that our last works may be our best works. It was on the fifth day that the fish and fowl were created, and both out of the waters. Though there is one kind of flesh of fishes, and another of birds, yet they were made together, and both out of the w…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 1:20

FIFTH DAY. The signs of animal life appeared in the waters and in the air. (Gen 1:20-23) moving creature--all oviparous animals, both among the finny and the feathery tribes--remarkable for their rapid and prodigious increase. fowl--means every flying thing: The word rendered "whales," includes also sharks, crocodiles, &c.; so that from the countless shoals of small fish to the great sea monsters, from the tiny insect to the king of birds, the waters and the air were suddenly made to swarm with creatures formed to live and sport in their respective elements.

Adam Clarke on Genesis 1:22

Let fowl multiply in the earth - It is truly astonishing with what care, wisdom, and minute skill God has formed the different genera and species of birds, whether intended to live chiefly on land or in water. The structure of a single feather affords a world of wonders; and as God made the fowls that they might fly in the firmament of heaven, Gen 1:20, so he has adapted the form of their bodies, and the structure and disposition of their plumage, for that very purpose. The head and neck in flying are drawn principally within the breast-bone, so that the whole under part exhibits the appearance of a ship's hull. The wings are made use of as sails, or rather oars, and the tail as a helm or ru…

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The Church Fathers

God wanted the blessing to have the power of fecundity, which is revealed in the succession of offspring. Thus, though the animals were made weak and mortal, they might by that blessing preserve their kind by giving birth.
— Augustine of Hippo, ON THE LITERAL INTERPRETATION OF GENESIS 15.50

I blame Matter with a like censure, because out of it, evil though it be—nay, very evil—good things have been created, nay, "very good" ones: "And God saw that they were good, and God blessed them" Genesis 1:21-22 —because, of course, of their very great goodness; certainly not because they were evil, or very evil. Change is therefore admissible in Matter; and this being the case, it has lost its condition of eternity; in short, its beauty is decayed in death.
— Tertullian, Against Hermogenes

Seeds of one kind cannot be changed into another kind of plant nor bring forth produce differing from its own seeds, so that men should spring from serpents and flesh from teeth. How much more, indeed, is it to be believed that whatever has been sown rises again in its own nature and that crops do not differ from their seed, that soft things do not spring from hard nor hard from soft, nor is poison changed into blood, but that flesh is restored from flesh, bone from bone, blood from blood, the humors of the body from humors.
— Ambrose of Milan, On Belief in the Resurrection

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Bless — (1.) God blesses his people when he bestows on them some gift temporal or spiritual (Gen. 1:22; 24:35; Job 42:12; Ps. 45:2; 104:24, 35). (2.) We bless God when we thank him for his mercies (Ps.…
Genesis — The five books of Moses were collectively called the Pentateuch, a word of Greek origin meaning “the five-fold book.” The Jews called them the Torah, i.e., “the law.” It is probable that the division…
Benedictions · .Upon creatures he had ma — .Upon creatures he had ma
Birds · Creation of, on the fifth creative day — Creation of, on the fifth creative day
Creation · Order of: Fifth day, making birds, insects, and fishes — Order of: Fifth day, making birds, insects, and fishes
Fish · Creation of — Creation of
Propagation · Of species, enjoined — Of species, enjoined
Sea, The · God: Made the birds and fished out of — God: Made the birds and fished out of

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Genesis 1:22

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 1:20-23

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 1:20

Adam Clarke on Genesis 1:22

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Genesis 1:22

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 1:20-23

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 1:20

Adam Clarke on Genesis 1:22

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Gill on Genesis 1:22

John Calvin on Genesis 1:22-23

Keil & Delitzsch on Genesis 1:20-23

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Genesis 1:22

Rashi on Genesis 1:22