God's instruction to Adam to "replenish" the earth.

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groh_frog Dec 21, 2005

Genesis 1:28 says "And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it..."Now, later on (Gen 2:15) God had Adam take care of the garden.My question is regarding how you interpret "replenish" in this. Is it simply stating that Adam was to "resupply/restock/keep the earth kept up" as 2:15 would seem to instruct?Just looking for a more knowledgeable person that I to share their knowledge (that means that just about anybody is qualified to share their knowledge).Grace and Peace...

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saved_matt Dec 21, 2005

the word translated 'replenish' in the KJV and ASV is 'maw-lay' or 'maw-law' it literally means to fill or (intransitively) be full of, in a wide application (literally and figuratively) not refill thus a more literal translation would be:And God blessed them; and God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the heavens, and over every animal that moveth on the earth. Gen 1:28 (Darby)I'm not knowledgable in Hebrew at all i just got an e-sword Very useful piece of kit that.hope that helpedmatt

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groh_frog Dec 21, 2005

Whoa, Sweet! I've heard of e-sword, but didn't know it does that much. And it gives me an answer to a skeptical ear that I didn't have...Grace and Peace...

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philologos Dec 21, 2005

mattYou are right. This is just a very familiar word for 'fill' which the translators of the KJV chose to translate in two different ways within a few verses of each other.Gen. 1:22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. Gen. 1:28 And 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. In each of the verses the underlined word is the same in Hebrew. If we take the first instance as our measure for the second it becomes plain that the word simply means 'to fill' without any sense of 're-filling'.and yes, e-sword is a great tool for this kind of Bible study.

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groh_frog Dec 21, 2005

If the KJV translators were using different words to represent the same word, is there a hebrew word that would specifically be translated "replenish"?Grace and Peace...

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philologos Dec 22, 2005

Not as far as I can discover. The Hebrew word translated 'replenish' is a very common word. If you want to see how it is used in Genesis here is a list...Gen. 1:22,28; 6:11,13; 9:1; 21:19; 24:16; 25:24; 26:15; 29:21,27-28; 42:25; 44:1; 50:3

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letsgetbusy Dec 23, 2005

The word "replenish" meant "to fill" in 1611. Just as the word "before" was used to mean "defiance", ex: have no other Gods before me, Nimrod was a mighty hunter before the Lord, etc. Replenish simply had a different usage at that time.Websters: replenish Etymology: Middle English replenisshen, from Middle French repleniss-, stem of replenir to fill, from Old French, from re- + plein full, from Latin plenus -- more at FULL1 a : to fill with persons or animals : STOCK b archaic : to supply fully : PERFECT c : to fill with inspiration or power : NOURISH2 a : to fill or build up again b : to make good : REPLACEintransitive senses : to become full : fill up againNotice the first definition.

sermonindex Dec 23, 2005

The word 'plenish' means to fill, the word 'replenish' means to 'refill'.

sermonindex Dec 24, 2005

Stever said:We have a dilemma, because:Letsgetbusy said:The word "replenish" meant "to fill" in 1611. Just as the word "before" was used to mean "defiance", ex: have no other Gods before me, Nimrod was a mighty hunter before the Lord, etc. Replenish simply had a different usage at that time.Healingwaters said:The word 'plenish' means to fill, the word 'replenish' means to 'refill'.XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxStever continues:This type of “dilemma” exists, I think, because of the format we are using right now- the internet. We have no face to face dialogue, we are busy, and don't have the focus to work things through. I would like to clarify the seeming dilemma that is really no dilemma at all. Letsgetbusy said specifically: “The word "replenish" meant "to fill" in 1611”I prefer the King James Bible. One of the reasons for my choice (not the main reason, but the secondary reason) is that the Language is frozen in time, as well as the meaning of words at that time. By purchasing the Noah Webster Dictionary of the English Language, 1828 Edition I can see what the words meant in 1828, which are almost identical to what they were in 1611. Why is that, since the English language is a “living language”? Because movement was limited in that time and the language was static. Today, with mass transit and multiple people groups using English, words and definition of words is constantly in flux.My 1828 Dictionary gives this meaning for the word “replenish”: [Noun, replener, to fill; 1. To Fill; to stock with numbers or abundant corn. The springs are replenished with water. MULTIPLY AND REPLENISH THE EARTH GEN i2. To finish; to complete (not in use)The word Plenish has the following meaning in 1828: for replenish, NOT USED.And the winner is???? Anyone who uses the King James Bible and looks up the meaning of words that he is not familiar with in a Noah Webster 1828 dictionary. Just like the Koine Greek, that was frozen in time was the basis for the Received Text, the King James reveals truth that can be understood by the common man of today, without any help from the "Textural Critics" who know nothing.God Bless,Steverps A Strongs Concordance is a great help as well.

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philologos Dec 27, 2005

The word 'plenary' means 'full' as in a plenary meeting. The root simply means 'filled' or 'full'. re-plenish then according to its etymology would mean 'to re-fill'. However etymology does not have the last word in linguistics, that belongs to usage. The word 'plenish' and 'replenish' seem to be used interchangeably. The use of 'replenish' in this passage has been something of a 'red herring'.The word "replenish" meant "to fill" in 1611. Just as the word "before" was used to mean "defiance", ex: have no other Gods before me, Nimrod was a mighty hunter before the Lord, etc. Replenish simply had a different usage at that time. The word 'before' however in the scripture has a very precise connotation. It comes from the word meaning 'face' and hence 'before someone's face' or 'in the presence of' It has some aspects of 'from God's perspective' and I have no doubt that Nimrod was an 'anti-God' character but the word 'before'does not in itself, or in its Biblical usage mean 'in defiance of'. That is interpretation not translation.

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Graftedbranc Jan 4, 2006

My question is regarding how you interpret "replenish" in this. Is it simply stating that Adam was to "resupply/restock/keep the earth kept up" as 2:15 would seem to instruct?My translation (the RcV) says:And God blessed them; and God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion...Replinish = fill the earth which flows from, "be fruitful and mulitiply.Graftedbranch