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 that crawls upon the earth.”
This blessing is the very source from which all mankind flows. We are fruitful or barren as God imparts His power or withholds it; He could have filled the earth Himself, but willed that we should proceed from one fountain, that our desire for mutual concord might be greater. Mark well: God addresses this command to those joined in lawful marriage, not to brute promiscuity.
AI summary
Man was made last of all, yet this was both honor and favor: honor, because creation advanced from less to more perfect; favor, because the palace had to be finished and furnished before its master arrived. He beheld the whole creation ready for his contemplation and use.
AI summary
Commenting on Genesis 1:26-28
This is no mere permission but a command for marriage and procreation, showing that matrimony is God's ordinance, honored from paradise itself. To subdue the earth means to take possession and make use of it, tilling and bending it to our service, and the dominion granted over all creatures is universal and unlimited.
AI summary