Discovery BoxGenesis 1:22
Context1:22 God blessed them 1 and said, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.” 2
Genesis 9:1
Context9:1 Then God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.
Genesis 9:7
Context9:7 But as for you, 3 be fruitful and multiply; increase abundantly on the earth and multiply on it.”
Psalms 107:38
Context107:38 He blessed 4 them so that they became very numerous.
He would not allow their cattle to decrease in number. 5
Psalms 144:13-14
Context144:13 Our storehouses 6 will be full,
providing all kinds of food. 7
Our sheep will multiply by the thousands
144:14 Our cattle will be weighted down with produce. 10
No one will break through our walls,
no one will be taken captive,
and there will be no terrified cries in our city squares. 11
Jeremiah 31:27-28
Context31:27 “Indeed, a time is coming,” 12 says the Lord, 13 “when I will cause people and animals to sprout up in the lands of Israel and Judah. 14 31:28 In the past I saw to it that they were uprooted and torn down, that they were destroyed and demolished. But now I will see to it that they are built up and firmly planted. 15 I, the Lord, affirm it!” 16
[1:22] 1 tn While the translation “blessed” has been retained here for the sake of simplicity, it would be most helpful to paraphrase it as “God endowed them with fruitfulness” or something similar, for here it refers to God’s giving the animals the capacity to reproduce. The expression “blessed” needs clarification in its different contexts, for it is one of the unifying themes of the Book of Genesis. The divine blessing occurs after works of creation and is intended to continue that work – the word of blessing guarantees success. The word means “to enrich; to endow,” and the most visible evidence of that enrichment is productivity or fruitfulness. See C. Westermann, Blessing in the Bible and the Life of the Church (OBT).
[1:22] 2 sn The instruction God gives to creation is properly a fuller expression of the statement just made (“God blessed them”), that he enriched them with the ability to reproduce. It is not saying that these were rational creatures who heard and obeyed the word; rather, it stresses that fruitfulness in the animal world is a result of the divine decree and not of some pagan cultic ritual for fruitfulness. The repeated emphasis of “be fruitful – multiply – fill” adds to this abundance God has given to life. The meaning is underscored by the similar sounds: בָּרָךְ (barakh) with בָּרָא (bara’), and פָּרָה (parah) with רָבָה (ravah).
[9:7] 3 sn The disjunctive clause (conjunction + pronominal subject + verb) here indicates a strong contrast to what has preceded. Against the backdrop of the warnings about taking life, God now instructs the people to produce life, using terms reminiscent of the mandate given to Adam (Gen 1:28).
[107:38] 4 tn “Bless” here carries the nuance “endue with sexual potency, make fertile.” See Gen 1:28, where the statement “he blessed them” directly precedes the command “be fruitful and populate the earth” (see also 1:22). The verb “bless” carries this same nuance in Gen 17:16 (where God’s blessing of Sarai imparts to her the capacity to bear a child); 48:16 (where God’s blessing of Joseph’s sons is closely associated with their having numerous descendants); and Deut 7:13 (where God’s blessing is associated with fertility in general, including numerous descendants). See also Gen 49:25 (where Jacob uses the noun derivative in referring to “blessings of the breast and womb,” an obvious reference to fertility) and Gen 27:27 (where the verb is used of a field to which God has given the capacity to produce vegetation).
[107:38] 5 tn The verbal form in this line appears to be an imperfect, which may be taken as customary (drawing attention to typical action in a past time frame) or as generalizing (in which case one should use the English present tense, understanding a move from narrative to present reality).
[144:13] 6 tn The Hebrew noun occurs only here.
[144:13] 7 tn Heb “from kind to kind.” Some prefer to emend the text to מָזוֹן עַל מָזוֹן (mazon ’al mazon, “food upon food”).
[144:13] 8 tn Heb “they are innumerable.”
[144:13] 9 tn Heb “in outside places.” Here the term refers to pastures and fields (see Job 5:10; Prov 8:26).
[144:14] 10 tn Heb “weighted down.” This probably refers (1) to the cattle having the produce from the harvest placed on their backs to be transported to the storehouses (see BDB 687 s.v. סָבַל). Other options are (2) to take this as reference to the cattle being pregnant (see HALOT 741 s.v. סבל pu) or (3) to their being well-fed or fattened (see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 [WBC], 288).
[144:14] 11 tn Heb “there [will be] no breach, and there [will be] no going out, and there [will be] no crying out in our broad places.”
[31:27] 12 tn Heb “Behold days are coming!” The particle “Behold” is probably used here to emphasize the reality of a fact. See the translator’s note on 1:6.
[31:27] 13 tn Heb “Oracle of the
[31:27] 14 tn Heb “Behold, the days are coming and [= when] I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of people and of animals.” For the significance of the metaphor see the study note.
[31:28] 15 tn Heb “Just as I watched over them to uproot and to tear down, to destroy and demolish, so I will watch over them to build and to plant.” The words here repeat those of 1:10 and 1:12.
