Be fruitful and multiply. Increase abundantly in the earth, and multiply in it.”

World English Bible · Public Domain

Parallel Translations

  • WEB World English Bible

    Be fruitful and multiply. Increase abundantly in the earth, and multiply in it.”

  • KJV King James Version

    And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein.

  • JPS JPS Tanakh (1917)

    And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; swarm in the earth, and multiply therein.'

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Examined in Scripture Analysis

Contradictions (1)

Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.

  • Is childbearing sinful?

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Cross-references (4)

Passages linked to Genesis 9:7 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.

  • Genesis 9:1 God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, and replenish the earth.
  • Genesis 1:28 God blessed them. God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
  • Genesis 9:19 These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the whole earth was populated.
  • Genesis 8:17 Bring out with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh, including birds, livestock, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply on the earth.”

Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)

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Explain this verse (6 sources)

Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.

John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 7. And you, be ye fruitful and multiply. He…

7. And you, be ye fruitful and multiply. He again turns his discourse to Noah and his sons, exhorting them to the propagation of offspring: as if he would say, ‘You see that I am intent upon cherishing and preserving mankind, do you therefore also attend to it.’ At the same time, in commending to them the preservation of seed, he deters them from murder, and from unjust acts of violence. Yet his chief end was that to which I have before alluded, that he might encourage their dejected minds. For in these words is contained not a bare precept, but also a promise.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Gen 9:7 And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply;…
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain i.e. As for you, I do not repent of…
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And you, be ye fruitful and multiply,.... Instead of…
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth…
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 9:7 Now be fruitful and multiply, and repopulate (literally…

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