Be Fruitful and Multiply

And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.
And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.
-- Genesis 1: 22-23 (KJV)

"Be fruitful and multiply" is a favorite formula of the Torah's "priestly author" (a.k.a. "P"); it shows up six times in his portions of Genesis. Here, in its first appearance, God blesses the living creatures of the skies and seas, allowing and also requiring them to propagate His original creation.

The second time (Genesis 1: 28), the Lord issues this order to mankind, which multiplies, all right, but God doesn't like the taste of this fruit. Regretting His creation, He floods the earth to wipe it clean -- save for Noah, his family, and some lucky land animals. (Noah's story will be considered in a subsequent excerpt.) Once the earth dries, God repeats His blessing upon the beasts (8: 17) and twice later upon mankind (9: 1 and 9: 7).

Things work out somewhat better the second time, though good, God-fearing men and women are still in short supply. Even among the chosen people, corruption and idol worship become common. Nonetheless, God singles out Jacob to receive the last of His blessings: "I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins" (Genesis 35: 11).

Jacob's fruitfulness yields the Twelve Tribes of Israel, which, according to Exodus (1: 7), "were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land [of Egypt] was filled with them" -- over a million of them, if you believe P. This didn't exactly thrill the Egyptians, as we shall see.

 
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Michael Macrone is Associate Site Producer of GraceCom and the author of nine books on language, literature, and ideas, including the best-selling Brush Up Your Shakespeare!