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Genesis 1:27-28 KJV
Genesis · chapter 1 · verses 27–28
27So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. 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.Genesis 1:27-28 · King James Version
What Genesis 1:27-28 means
The image comes first and the assignment second, in that order. Dominion is handed to people already described as made in God's likeness, which sets the terms: stewardship exercised by somebody who answers to the owner.
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Genesis 1:27-28 in context
25And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
26And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
27So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
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.
29And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
30And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.
Commentary
Cross references
- Matthew 19:4
- Ephesians 2:10
- Genesis 5:1-2
- Mark 10:6
- Genesis 2:21-25
- Ephesians 4:24
- Psalms 139:14
- Isaiah 43:7
- Genesis 9:1
- Genesis 9:7
- Leviticus 26:9
- Psalms 128:3-4
Key words (Strong's)
- replenishmâlêʼto fill or be full of, in a wide applicationH4390 →
- fruitfulpârâhto bear fruitH6509 →
- multiplyrâbâhto increaseH7235 →
- dominionrâdâhto tread downH7287 →
- createdbârâʼto createH1254 →
- blessedbârakto kneelH1288 →
- femalenᵉqêbâhfemaleH5347 →
- imagetselema phantomH6754 →
Topics
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We have here the second part of the sixth day's work, the creation of man, which we are, in a special manner, concerned to take notice of, that we may know ourselves. Observe, I.
— Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on verses 26-28