And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein.
Parallel translations
- WEB Be fruitful and multiply. Increase abundantly in the earth, and multiply in it.”
- BSB But as for you, be fruitful and multiply; spread out across the earth and multiply upon it.”
- NKJV And as for you, be fruitful and multiply; Bring forth abundantly in the earth And multiply in it.”
- NASB “As for you, be fruitful and multiply; Populate the earth abundantly and multiply in it.”
- NLT Now be fruitful and multiply, and repopulate the earth.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God repeats His blessing to Noah's family: be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth. The mandate given at creation is renewed after the flood.
Overview
Echoing the original command to Adam, God commissions Noah's household to repopulate the cleansed earth, signaling a fresh beginning for humanity. Life and fruitfulness are gifts and callings from God, not accidents. This renewal of the creation mandate points forward to the greater multiplication of God's people through the gospel, as Christ's followers go and make disciples of all nations.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- Gen 9:1And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.
- Gen 1:28And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
- Gen 9:19These are the three sons of Noah: and of them was the whole earth overspread.
- Gen 8:17Bring 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 creepeth upon the earth; that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply upon the earth.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.
How Genesis 9:7 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.