the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.’” The passage continues in v. 28 with “God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.’” The passage concludes by describing the breadth of mankind’s dominion over all created plants and animals.
In this passage, God creates mankind as the first couple—Adam and Eve. God blesses the two with the promise of children and describes mankind’s role in the stewardship of the earth. The key to understanding God’s blessing is to focus on the broad theological purpose and not merely the act of procreation.
God’s blessing upon Adam and Eve is similar to v. 22 for the created animals. Verse 22 reads: “God blessed them and said, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.’” This passage concludes day five of creation and there is no further responsibility of the animals beyond increasing in number.
In contrast, the passage concerning the creation and blessing of mankind has two additional components. First, the verse adds that “God said to them,” thus drawing attention to the personal relationship between God and mankind. Second, the first couple are told to subdue and rule over the earth and all the created plants and animals thereby fulfilling their role as God’s image-bearer on earth (cf. v. 26).35
The focus here is not merely to increase in number—that would make mankind the same as the animals (cf. v. 22). Here, the focus is on why mankind is instructed to multiply and fill the earth. Bruce Waltke states that “Humanity is given a twofold cultural mandate: to fill the earth and to rule creation as benevolent kings (cf. Gen 9:2; Ps 8:5–8; Heb 2:5–9).”36 God’s purpose in creating mankind was that they should rule over God’s other creations on God’s behalf. To effect this purpose Adam and Eve must “be fruitful and multiply.” It is important to note that the verb used to relate God’s blessing is an imperative—thus the blessing is also a command to mankind.
Wenham adds that the dominion of mankind over nature does not give license for the unbridled exploitation and subjugation of nature. While mankind was given a kingly status, this role included the ideal of stewardship and not exploitation. “Ancient oriental kings were expected to be devoted to the welfare of their subjects, especially the poorest and weakest members of society (Ps 72:12–14). By upholding divine principles of law and justice, rulers promoted peace and prosperity for all their subjects.”37 In the same way, acting as God’s representative over creation, mankind is instructed to rule over the environment and all the animals as benevolent kings.
Therefore, the blessing to be fruitful and multiply is not a stand-alone command. The blessing is an agency/task to fulfill God’s purpose of filling the earth with enough people for mankind to act as God’s steward over all of the Lord’s creation. The blessing is given to Adam and Eve before their fall from grace and establishes them as God’s viceroy over creation.
Noah (Gen 9:1–7)
Now let’s turn to explore the third occurrence where God blesses mankind and tells them to “be fruitful and multiply.”38 Chapter 9 of Genesis begins with Noah and his family leaving the ark and providing an offering to God for bringing them to dry ground after the flood waters have receded. The last time God blessed mankind was before the Fall in Gen 3. Between Gen 3 and Gen 8 we learn of the depravity of mankind. Violence and reciprocal killing characterized the communal life of mankind. According to Gerhard von Rad this raised theological questions. After the fall and with the total depravity of mankind did the first command of creation, “be fruitful,” still hold (Gen 1:28)? Did mankind, who had fallen from God’s garden, still have God’s will on its side?39 The theological answer is clearly stated—Yes. God, despite all mankind’s sin, renews his blessing on the new humanity. Similar to the blessing in Gen 1, the verb used to denote the blessing is an imperative relying that the blessing is a command upon mankind.
Verses 1–3 read: “Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth. The fear and dread of you will fall on all the beasts of the earth, and . . . they are given into your hands. Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.’”
The content in this passage is like the initial blessing of mankind in Gen 1. God gives a blessing upon the new humanity using the same language to be fruitful, to increase in number, and to fill the earth that was present in Gen 1:28. Derek Kidner finds that while mankind is still in the image of God and humanity still acts as heaven’s viceroy, the effects of sin have darkened the scene. Mankind’s “regime will (now) be largely one of fear (v. 2), his fellow-creatures are now his food (v. 3), and violence will be abroad in the earth (v. 5, 6).”40 The passage ends with a reminder that mankind is created in God’s image (v. 6) and an echo of the command to “be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it.” (v. 7)
The context of the Noahic blessing is the same as the blessing for Adam. God is granting stewardship over all creation to Noah and his descendants. Similarly, the intent for the increase in population is to create sufficient heirs to affect God’s purpose—not merely more people for the sake of increasing the world’s population or because having children is a rewarding exercise.
Abraham (Gen 17:1–27)
Chapter 17 conveys God’s covenant with Abraham. Verses 1–6 read: “When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, ‘I am God Almighty; walk before me faithfully and be blameless. Then I will make my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.’ Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, ‘As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you.’”
This chapter is linked to our investigation by the inclusion of two phrases. First in v. 2 with the promise by God that God himself will greatly increase Abraham’s numbers (multiply) and then again in v. 6 where God will make Abraham very fruitful. Before we unpack the meaning in chap. 17, we need to first understand the earlier call of Abraham.
Chapter 17 is the ratification of a covenant that God established earlier in Gen 12. In this earlier passage, God promised Abraham the he would become a great nation with a great name (12:2), all the families of the earth would find blessing in him (v. 3), and he would prosses a land (vv. 1–2, 7). Now God is ratifying and further clarifying that promise through a covenantal address.
It is worth tracing these three aspects of the promise from the call to the covenant in order to demonstrate how chapter 17 brings the promises into sharper focus. Going to a land “that I will show you” in 12:1 becomes “this land” in v. 7. The scope of the gifted land is expanded in 13:15 to “all the land which you can see” and again in 15:18 to “from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates.” While these passages provide a general outline for the land granted to Abraham, the nation of Canaan is first explicitly mentioned in 17:8 when God states that “[t]he whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you.”
At the beginning of chapter
