Kejadian 1:22

1:22 God blessed them ¹  and said, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.” ² 

Kejadian 6:1

God’s Grief over Humankind’s Wickedness

6:1 When humankind ³  began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born ⁴  to them, ⁵ 

Kisah Para Rasul 17:26

17:26 From one man ⁶  he made every nation of the human race ⁷  to inhabit the entire earth, ⁸  determining their set times ⁹  and the fixed limits of the places where they would live, ¹⁰ 

[1:22]  ¹ tn While the translation “blessed” has been retained here for the sake of simplicity, it would be most helpful to paraphrase it as “God endowed them with fruitfulness” or something similar, for here it refers to God’s giving the animals the capacity to reproduce. The expression “blessed” needs clarification in its different contexts, for it is one of the unifying themes of the Book of Genesis. The divine blessing occurs after works of creation and is intended to continue that work – the word of blessing guarantees success. The word means “to enrich; to endow,” and the most visible evidence of that enrichment is productivity or fruitfulness. See C. Westermann, Blessing in the Bible and the Life of the Church (OBT).

[1:22]  ² sn The instruction God gives to creation is properly a fuller expression of the statement just made (“God blessed them”), that he enriched them with the ability to reproduce. It is not saying that these were rational creatures who heard and obeyed the word; rather, it stresses that fruitfulness in the animal world is a result of the divine decree and not of some pagan cultic ritual for fruitfulness. The repeated emphasis of “be fruitful – multiply – fill” adds to this abundance God has given to life. The meaning is underscored by the similar sounds: בָּרָךְ (barakh) with בָּרָא (bara’), and פָּרָה (parah) with רָבָה (ravah).

[6:1]  ³ tn The Hebrew text has the article prefixed to the noun. Here the article indicates the generic use of the word אָדָם (’adam): “humankind.”

[6:1]  ⁴ tn This disjunctive clause (conjunction + subject + verb) is circumstantial to the initial temporal clause. It could be rendered, “with daughters being born to them.” For another example of such a disjunctive clause following the construction וַיְהִיכִּי (vayÿhiki, “and it came to pass when”), see 2 Sam 7:1.

[6:1]  ⁵ tn The pronominal suffix is third masculine plural, indicating that the antecedent “humankind” is collective.

[17:26]  ⁶ sn The one man refers to Adam (the word “man” is understood).

[17:26]  ⁷ tn Or “mankind.” BDAG 276 s.v. ἔθνος 1 has “every nation of humankind Ac 17:26.”

[17:26]  ⁸ tn Grk “to live over all the face of the earth.”

[17:26]  ⁹ tn BDAG 884-85 s.v. προστάσσω has “(οἱ) προστεταγμένοι καιροί (the) fixed times Ac 17:26” here, but since the following phrase is also translated “fixed limits,” this would seem redundant in English, so the word “set” has been used instead.

[17:26]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “the boundaries of their habitation.” L&N 80.5 has “fixed limits of the places where they would live” for this phrase.