Verse

Genesis 9:1

ESV And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.
NIV Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth.
NASB Then God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.
CSB God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.
NLT Then God blessed Noah and his sons and told them, 'Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth.
KJV And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.
NKJV So God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them: “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.

What does Genesis 9:1 mean?

Genesis 9 begins with God's blessing on, and charge to, the humans who remain alive on the earth. This blessing is similar to God's blessing on humankind in Genesis 1:28 and Genesis 5:2. This is also the third instance so far in Scripture where God commands humanity to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth (Genesis 1:28; 8:17). In a very real sense, this blessing shows that God is beginning again with Noah what He started with Adam.

This time, however, there will be specific differences set out from the start of this reboot of God's relationship with humanity. Among these will be slightly different directions regarding food and the consequences of murder, for example. The tendency of animals to fear and flee human beings will also be brought up in this passage.

Previously, God indicated that the animals of the ark were meant to repopulate the land devastated by the flood (Genesis 8:17). Now, God's command defines for Noah and his sons their greatest remaining purpose: reproduce.
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