Tuesday, May 28, 2019

Genesis 1:28: Replenish or Fill?

Robert Alter uses "fill" in Genesis 1:28. The Hebrew word is מָלָא

See Genesis 1:22.

KJV: "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."

Alter: "And God blessed them, and God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and conquer it, and hold sway over the fish of the sea and the fowl of the heavens and every beast that crawls upon the earth.'"

Brown-Driver and Briggs:

2 transitive fill, of populating sea and earth Genesis 1:22,28; Genesis 9:1 (all P); consecrate מִלְאוּ יֶדְכֶם ליהוה; (literally fill the hand) Exodus 32:29 (compare below); especially of glory of ׳י filling tabernacle and temple; Exodus 40:34,35 (P) 1 Kings 8:10,11, compare Isaiah 6:1; see also Jeremiah 23:24, especially literal Ezekiel 10:3; Ezekiel 43:5;Ezekiel 44:4; 2 Chronicles 5:14; 7:1,2; followed by 2 accusative fill jars (with) water 1 Kings 18:34; absolute overflow עַלכָּֿלגְּֿדוֺתָיו ׳מ Joshua 3:15 (compare 1 Chronicles 12:16.

Gesenius Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon: See https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H4390&t=KJV

7 comments:

Duncan said...

This is fairly straight forward as the KJV uses "fill" at Genesis 1:22. Not sure what point the translators were trying to make at 28?

Genesis 9:1 in the KJV may be to blame but I can see why "replenish" might be used here.

Genesis 6:11 is a much more interesting instance, as a direct translation of the MT reads "the land of violence was filled". See also 6:13.

See also Genesis 6 from Scroll 6Q1 of v13.

Edgar Foster said...

David Clines' Dictionary of Classical Hebrew contains a number of senses for "male'," but here's part of what that source states:

"9. replenish, satisfy, Y. Jr 3125, Job Jb 3839,
33? thiefVr 630- 2?33 soul Jr 3125, i.e. appetite Pr
630, H’n appetite Jb 3839. «ODLiL> pi. || mi hi. give
to drink Jr 3125."

However, the same dictionary suggests "fill" for Gn 1:22, 28; 6:13. See Clines, Dictionary of Classical Hebrew, 5:277.

Duncan said...

https://www.etymonline.com/word/*pele-

Duncan said...

https://www.etymonline.com/word/replenish?ref=etymonline_crossreference

So what did replenish actually mean at the time of the KJV - Did "re-" mean "again" ?

Edgar Foster said...

Here's one take: https://answersingenesis.org/bible-questions/what-does-replenish-the-earth-mean/

Duncan said...

Thanks, I also noticed that the Geneva used fill.

Duncan said...

An interview with Alter:-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srjQi6PnUws