question about Genesis 1?

Question

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.

when God commands male & female (Adam & Eve aren't mentioned yet) to replenish the earth, is He implying that the earth had already been populated? replenish can mean "to fill up again."

Answer 1

God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls on the earth.”
Genesis 1:28

Original Word: ‏מָלֵא‎, mālē’
Usage Notes: "to fill, fulfill, overflow, ordain, endow." This verb occurs in all Semitic languages (including biblical Aramaic) and in all periods. Biblical Hebrew attests it about 250 times. Basically, mālē’ means "to be full" in the sense of having something done to one. In 2 Kings 4:6, the word implies "to fill up": "And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said…" The verb is sometimes used figuratively as in Gen. 6:13, when God noted that "the earth is filled with violence
—Vine's Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words

Answer 2

Maybe my translation of the Holy Scriptures will sound more plausible to you (I think it does)

Genesis 1:28 -  "Further, God blessed them and God said to them: “Be fruitful and become many and fill the earth and subdue it, and have in subjection the fish of the sea and the flying creatures of the heavens and every living creature that is moving upon the earth.”

He said to fill it, not over-fill it, not replenish. That must be from the old King James version.

Answer 3

What version are you reading, the NIV is clear.

NIV...
"God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."

Answer 4

Hi,
Congratulations you have hit on a very important verse! Yes, God was telling Mankind to repopulate the Earth he just reconditioned! The first Earth age ended in total destruction at the time of Satan rebellion. God laid that Earth to waste, and had to resurface it to make it inhabitable again. You read about that re-creation story in Genesis.

Answer 5

You are absolutely right.. But that is all the info given in Genesis. It is as if God doesn't want us to be concerned about that, for He reveals so little of it to us. The emphasis is on our fall from grace.

J. Vernon McGee, the Bible teacher featured on "Thru The Bible" radio broadcasts has pointed out this interesting word, replenish and agrees with you that it does in fact seem to indicate that something existed beforehand. His commentaries are excellent and are practically transcribed word for word from the radio broadcasts. I highly recommend them.

Answer 6

Read verses 26 & 27


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.

Answer 7

..not with modern humans(Homo Sapiens Sapiens) anyway.
That's assuming Adam &Eve, what the Bible calls the first humans ,were Homo Sapiens and not some other Homo species.

Since the Western World is now suffering from real population decline,should Westerners decide to have more children to replentish the earth?

Answer 8

You may notice that the first people created come before the seventh day of rest. They are blessed. Adam and Eve clearly come after the seventh day of rest and they clearly are not blessed, but cursed.

Answer 9

Good question. I think it seems to indicate that this earth had been inhabited before by other creatures.. Maybe the dinosaurs. Whatever the creatures were, they had disappeared before man was created.

Answer 10

the hebrew word is male’ and it simply means to fill or to be full. moreover, the english translators of the king james version knew the word means to fill. they chose “replenish” because in 17th century elizabethan english “replenish” meant “to fill” [similar to how in modern english the word “replete” doesn’t mean to “abound again,” it simply means “abundant” or “abounding”]. language isn't static, it’s dynamic. words change meaning over time. today “replenish” means “to fill again.” it didn’t mean the same thing in 17th century england. nearly all modern translations translate male’ as simply “fill” in the passage in question