Genesis 9:7
in Genesis 9But as for you, be fruitful and multiply; spread out across the earth and multiply upon it.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein.
KJV
And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein.
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This verse in Genesis 9
Commentary
5 notes on this verseAnd you, be ye fruitful and multiply,.... Instead of taking away the lives of men, the great concern should be to multiply them; and this indeed is one reason of the above law, to prevent the decrease and ruin of mankind; and which was peculiarly needful, when there were so few men in the world as only four, and therefore it is repeated in stronger terms: bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein; that the whole earth might be overspread with men, and repeopled sufficiently, as it was by the sons of Noah, see Gen 9:19.
This site's exposition
I will require the life of any man or beast
on Genesis 9:5-7
The ground of the death penalty is that God made mankind in His own image, damaged at the fall and still standing after the flood. The Hebrew behind his fellow man reads a man his brother, and it reaches back to chapter 4, where Cain killed Abel and was marked for protection. Hebrews 12:24 sets the blood of Jesus over Abel's blood, speaking a better word. Verse 7 turns back to the blessing, be fruitful and multiply.
This site's exposition
spread out across the earth
John Gill reads the command beside verse 6: murder cuts lives off, and the charge is to multiply them. Matthew Henry hears the whole earth handed to them. The builders of Babel resist this very call at 11:4, afraid of being scattered.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Now, (1.) God sets the whole earth before them, tells them it is all their own, while it remains, to them and their heirs. Note, The earth God has given to the children of men, for a possession and habitation, Ps. cxv. Though it is not a paradise, but a wilderness rather; yet it is better than we deserve.
Now, (1.) God sets the whole earth before them, tells them it is all their own, while it remains, to them and their heirs. Note, The earth God has given to the children of men, for a possession and habitation, Ps. cxv. Though it is not a paradise, but a wilderness rather; yet it is better than we deserve.
The words behind it
7 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאַתֶּ֖ם | veatem | and you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| פְּר֣וּ | peru | be fruitful | H6509 → | 29 times |
| וּרְב֑וּ | urevu | and multiply | H7235 → | 227 times |
| שִׁרְצ֥וּ | shirtzu | swarm | H8317 → | 14 times |
| בָאָ֖רֶץ | vaaretz | on the earth | H776 → | 2504 times |
| וּרְבוּ־ | urevu- | and multiply | H7235 → | 227 times |
| בָֽהּ׃ ס | vah | on <the> it |
וְאַתֶּ֖םand you
veatemH859 →1094 times
פְּר֣וּbe fruitful
peruH6509 →29 times
וּרְב֑וּand multiply
urevuH7235 →227 times
שִׁרְצ֥וּswarm
shirtzuH8317 →14 times
בָאָ֖רֶץon the earth
vaaretzH776 →2504 times
וּרְבוּ־and multiply
urevu-H7235 →227 times
בָֽהּ׃ סon <the> it
vah
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Genesis 1:28God 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…
it leads to
- Genesis 9:1
And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 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.”
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 128:3–4
Your wife will be like a fruitful vine flourishing within your house, your sons like olive shoots sitting around your table.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Leviticus 26:9
I will turn toward you and make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will establish My covenant with you.
- Genesis 22:17–18
I will surely bless you, and I will multiply your descendants like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will possess the gates of their enemies.
- Genesis 9:1
Through
Genesis 9:1And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.
it leads to
- 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…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 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.”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Genesis 1:28
Through
Genesis 8:17Bring 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.”
it leads to
- Psalms 107:38
He blesses them, and they multiply greatly; He does not let their herds diminish.
- Psalms 107:38
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies6
About Genesis
This page draws on Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.