Be Blessed: Be Fruitful (Genesis 1)
- Elaine R Kelly
- 2 days ago
- 10 min read
Is "Be fruitful" God's first command to humans?
Is it God's command to all women today?
No to both. Traditional views have negatively impacted the lives of myself and many women.
What does the passage actually say:
God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”(Genesis 1:28 NIV)
Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth. The fear and dread of you will fall on all the beasts of the earth, and on all the birds in the sky, on every creature that moves along the ground, and on all the fish in the sea; they are given into your hands. (Genesis 9:1-2)
Notice anything?
"Be fruitful" is God's first blessing to humans. It is a blessing, not a command.
"Be fruitful" is God speaking to both of them, the man and woman. God gives them both the blessing of having children and both the responsibility to rule, order, and subdue the earth.
Traditional views of this passage:
A gender-based command. Women must have babies in obedience to God. Men must have dominion and rule the earth. This task must be done by every woman in every generation. It is a perpetual obligation.
A community-based command. Women and men were commanded to populate the earth, and this task is now fully accomplished because the earth is now populated. It was a command for a specific historical time and context.
An individual command for both men and women to have spiritual children and make disciples of Jesus. It is a perpetual obligation.
What's wrong with View 1: It's a gender-based command for all time
The first problem with seeing this passage as a gender-based command is that the passage speaks to all believers, male and female. The Bible does not show God saying one thing to the woman and a different thing to the man. God speaks to both at once. It takes both the man and the woman coming together to have children. In the same way, it takes both the man and the woman working together to subdue the earth. We need one another's perspectives. The Bible calls us to work together, to be co-workers. The phrase 'one another' occurs 100 times in the New Testament, including things like:
Accept one another (Romans 15:7)
Tolerate one another (Ephesians 4:2)
Be kind, tender-hearted and forgiving to one another (Ephesians 4:32)
Forgive one another (Colossians 3:13)
Be devoted to one another in love
Serve one another
Pray for one another
Teach and admonish one another (Colossians 3:16)
In addition to being inaccurate, seeing this passage as a gender based command also leads to a gender-based subjugation. For example, a woman is limited to home and childcare, unable to perform her responsibility to order the earth, to work, teach, or lead in church, politics, business, and society. The man-made restrictions on a woman's activities limit her ability to serve outside of motherhood or after her children have grown.
Additionally, men are taught that having children is a woman's role, and he is discouraged from providing childcare. I've heard men talk about "volunteering" to "help his wife" with her responsibility to take care of his children. Actually, it is both the man's and the woman's responsibility to take care of their children. Both need to be able to balance work and family. The result is that both women and men are prohibited from acting based on their gifts.
This viewpoint reduces a woman's value to her ability to have children; and, in some cases, it reduces her value to her ability to bear sons. Under this tradition, if a woman is unable to bear children, it is grounds for a divorce. If a man is to obey the so-called command to have children, he must cast aside a barren wife. She is a useless woman with no value.
Like many others, I have felt less honoured because I was infertile. The idea that being fruitful is a command and that every morally upright woman must have children, and several children, is especially harmful for infertile couples. There are many individuals who, through no fault of their own, are unable to bear children.
What's wrong with View 2: It's a community-based command that is now completed.
If it is a command for the community of humans on earth to fill the earth, this verse becomes almost irrelevant. We no longer need to work on obedience to it, since the world is now filled and populated.
However, we have seen this view being used for segments of the population. For example, Whites may claim that they need to continue to work on populating the pure White population because the mixed population is becoming brown or more homogeneous.
In addition, this view often devalues couples who do not have at least two children, which is the minimum replacement-level of fertility. The command has been filled, but the population needs to be constantly replenished. There continues to be judgment against couples without children.
What's wrong with View 3: A command for women and men to have Spiritual Children
This view offers some comfort.
This perspective is a vast relief for individuals who do not have biological children. It acknowledges the value of infertile couples. It is also consistent with the Bible. In the Old Testament, being barren is explained as sin or God's judgment against a woman. The New Testament is not concerned with fertility or infertility in having children; it repeatedly discusses having spiritual children.
Jesus speaks of his spiritual children when he laments over Jerusalem, wanting to gather its people as a mother hen gathers her brood under her wings (Matthew 23:37, Luke 13:34). This imagery shows Jesus as a mother, protecting, nurturing, and comforting her people.
Paul calls himself a mother in labour to birth spiritual children (1 Tim. 1:2, Gal. 4:19), and in nurturing them as a mother would (1 Thessalonians 2:7).
Peter and John also use female imagery for themselves (1 Peter 5:13, 3 John 1:4). Likewise, the elect lady of 2 John 1:4 has spiritual children.
It's wonderful to see followers of Jesus show love, protection, nurturing, and comfort, just as a mother would show to her children.
However, it smells like colonialism and self-importance.
Like many others, I have felt less honoured by those who think that making new "converts" is the only way to be spiritually fruitful. Seeing the birthing of spiritual children as a command gives more honour to those who are gifted to make disciples and convert others. The Bible instructs us not to give more honour to those with some gifts than with other gifts. In fact, it says that those who are more honoured must uplift those who are less noticeable.
I can imagine the proud and powerful crowd putting down Mary for being pregnant before her marriage, and I believe she is speaking of them when she rejoices with her relative, Elisabeth, who also has a miraculous pregnancy. Mary, the mother of Jesus, rejoices because the power of God scatters the proud and uplifts the lowly.
"[God] has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones and lifted up the lowly (Luke 1:51-52)
Likewise, the Psalmist rejoices that the power of God is used to uplift those who are disrespected:
[God] raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap, to make them sit with princes, with the princes of his people. He gives the barren woman a home, making her the joyous mother of children. Praise the Lord! Psalme 113 7-9
These songs of praise show God's character, show the model of power not being used to subjugate others, but to lift others up. The Psalm is not a promise that all barren women will become mothers. It is a celebration that some barren women have become mothers.
In the same way, we can celebrate all fruits of the spirit, not only those that result in new "converts". Many individuals are not called to make disciples, preach, or convert. They can end up feeling spiritually infertile when, in fact, they are showing many fruits of the Spirit.
God gives us different gifts. The woman at the well was someone gifted in making disciples. Many people in her village came to believe because of her (John 4:25-41). Peter was a gifted speaker, and many people came to believe because of him (Acts 2:40-41).
Neither the great orators, the gregarious joker, nor the introverted empathizer is more honoured or preferred. All people deserve respect and honour. Suggesting that those who convert greater numbers should have more power or respect contravenes the biblical message that we all play important, different roles, and God shows no favouritism.
What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 1 Corinthians 3:5-7
To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of powerful deeds, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses. 1 Corinthians 12:8-11
As it is, there are many members yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and those members of the body that we think less honourable we clothe with greater honour, and our less respectable members are treated with greater respect (1 Corinthians 12:20-23)
We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; the encourager, in encouragement; the giver, in sincerity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness. (Romans 12:6-8)
Being Fruitful is a Blessing
When we are filled with the Spirit, we are blessed with all kinds of different fruit. It is a natural overflowing from being filled with love and joy. It spreads out freely, without limitations or restrictions. Imagine being so filled with joy and love that you cannot hold it in.
You don't need a command to share your love. Christ has made the law obsolete and replaced the written law with the law in our hearts. If you need a command, perhaps instead of bearing children, the command is to turn to Jesus, who can place in you that well-spring of living water that bursts forth like a geyser.
Many fruits of the Spirit are not related to having babies.
"The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control." (Galatians 5:22-23)
Lady Wisdom is a female personification of God in the Bible, and turning to her will bring the fruit of the Spirit.
You’re blessed when you meet Lady Wisdom, when you make friends with Madame Insight. She’s worth far more than money in the bank; her friendship is better than a big salary. Her value exceeds all the trappings of wealth; nothing you could wish for holds a candle to her. With one hand she gives long life, with the other she confers recognition. Her manner is beautiful, her life wonderfully complete. She’s the very Tree of Life to those who embrace her. Hold her tight—and be blessed! (Proverbs 3:13-18 MSG)
Wisdom is presented as a personification of God in Proverbs, as the tree of Knowledge at the beginning of Genesis (Genesis 2:9), and the tree of life in heaven at the end of Revelation. (Revelation 22:1-5). However, the Protestant Bible excludes the deuterocanonical books of Sirach and the Wisdom of Solomon. These books profile Lady Wisdom and remain in the Roman Catholic Bible because they were part of the ancient Greek Old Testament used by the earliest Christians. Joyce Rupp reminds us that the early church referred to Sophia in terms comparable to those of the Holy Spirit [1].
The tree of life is present in all three Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. It appears as a central symbol of eternal life, divine wisdom, and spiritual nourishment across these faiths. The Tree of Life, also called Lady Wisdom (Sophia in the Greek), bears fruit and brings people healing and new life. The Tree of Life is often associated with feminine power, nurturing, protection, fertility, and rebirth. The falling of the leaves represents life, growth, and the cycle of death and rebirth. Traditionally, the tree connects to heaven with its branches, and to earth with its roots, incorporating balance and wisdom.
Lady Wisdom, the female personification of God in Proverbs, seems to be an early understanding of what we now call the Holy Spirit, who enables us to bear the fruits of the Spirit.
Conclusion
Be Blessed!
You are not guilty nor condemned if you do not have biological children.
You are not guilty nor condemned if you do not bear spiritual children.
You are no longer under the law.
All believers receive the Holy Spirit, and she gives us Wisdom, guidance, and a wide and diverse variety of gifts. We are not blessed because we have a womb and breasts. We are blessed because we turn to Jesus and are filled with the Spirit, and overflow with living water and a light that cannot be hidden. Jesus said it best:
"While he was saying this, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you and the breasts that nursed you!” But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it!” (Luke 11:27-28)
Elaine Ricker Kelly Author is empowering women with historical fiction about women in the Bible and early church and Christian blogs about women in leadership, church history and doctrine. Her books include:
Forgotten Followers from Broken to Bold, Book 1, A Novel (2022)
The Sword: A Fun Way to Engage in Healthy Debate on What the Bible Says About a Woman's Role (2023)
Because She Was Called from Broken to Bold, Book 2, A Novel of the Early Church (2024)
Walk with Mara on Her Healing Journey: 21 Steps to Emotional Resilience (2024)
Finding Her Voice from Broken to Bold, Book 3, Acts of Early Female Apostles: A Novel (2025)
Sources:
Joyce Rupp, “Who is Sophia in the Bible?”, U.S. Catholic, January 4, 2016, https://uscatholic.org/articles/201601/desperately-seeking-sophia/.
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