Genesis 1:26-30 Must we dominate?
1:26-27 God creates human kind in God’s image.
1:28 God Blesses humanity, tells humanity to subdue the earth, and gives humanity dominion over the animals.
1:29-30 God prescribes a vegan diet for humanity and animals
Background:
The text is placed in the sixth day of creation after the creation of the animals on land (24-25). In this passage God creates humans, blesses them, defines their place in creation and puts a limitation on human and animal activity.
In verse 26-27 Verse 26 describes God’s intention and verse 27 describes God’s action. God creates human beings in God’s image. The text does not explain what the image of God means, opening up a theological debate that continues to this day. It is God’s intention that humans dominion (rule) over the animals. This combination of being made in God’s image and having dominion over the animals invites a comparison between God’s relationship to us and our relationship to animals. However, the text itself does not directly make that comparison.
After creating humanity in verse 28 God tells humanity to reproduce and fill the earth. The command to “subdue the earth” follows the command to fill the earth. There is nothing subtle about the Hebrew word translated subdue (kabash), it has the sense of violence. Kabash means to make subservient as a slave ( 2 Chronicles 28:10, Nehemiah 5:5, Jeremiah 34:11,16) or even to rape (Esther 7:8). The idea of subduing the land appears in the conquering of Canaan (Numbers 32:22, 29 and Joshua 18:1) and in the context of conquered nations (2 Samuel 8:11 and 1 Chronicles 22:18). In Micah 7:19 the word is used when God subdues iniquities. In Zechariah 9:15 the root is used when the slingers are defeated. It is hard to find a “nice” way of interpreting this command. It is hard to see how this is consistent with a stewardship understanding of this passage, although many have tried.
In Verse 28 Humans are also told to rule the animal kingdom. The Hebrew word often translated as dominion in verse 26 and 28 (radah) has the connotation of ruling (see Leviticus 25:46 and Psalm 72:8 for examples). This suggests that the relationship between humans and the earth differs from that between humans and animals.
Right after granting humans the rule of the animals, God limits both human and animal behavior. Verses 29-30 prescribe vegan diets for both humans and the animals are to have vegan diets.
There is a tendency to focus on what agrees with our own particular take on the Bible (in this case an ecologically friendly reading) and attempt to explain away that which seems to disagree with our understanding (subduing the earth). Today, many eco-theologians either resist or attempt to tame this passage, often by looking at the characteristics of a good king, as modeled by the suffering servant aspects of Christ. This works for the animals, but not for subduing the earth.
Lynn White, Jr. (1) points to interpretations of 1:28 that highlight the dominion aspect of the passage, something affirmed by Thomas Bacon at the start of the scientific revolution. (2) For a fuller exploration of the domination of nature, historically, and by modern science and technology see William Leiss’s The Domination of Nature. (3)
How then do we understand the command to subdue the earth? One key issue is, what exactly is meant by the earth in Genesis 1:28? The Hebrew word for earth in this creation story (eretz) has a multiplicity of meanings, just like the English word earth. Understanding what earth means in this passage is key to understanding what God is telling us to subdue.
Ways to read the passage
I suggest you read creation story (Gen 1:1 through 2:4a) from the point of view of:
- the Earth,
- the plants,
- the animals
- the humans.
Then reread the passage in Genesis 1:26-30 with your previous readings in mind.
What exactly is meant in the larger passage by “earth” (planet, ground, surface of the earth, …)? How is the word “earth” used elsewhere in the larger passage. Is the idea of earth used differently in different parts of the creation story? How do you interpret the word earth in Gen 1:28?
How might the idea of subduing the earth be related to the vegan lifestyle suggested in the very next passage?
How might you relate ruling the animals to their command for a vegan lifestyle in the next two verses?
Now reread the passage from the point of view of a subsistence farmer, who keeps a small group of sheep and goats as well. What would dominion of the animals and subduing the Earth mean to you?
References
(1) Lynn White, Jr. The Historical Roots of Our Ecologic Crisis
Science, New Series, Vol. 155, No. 3767 (Mar. 10, 1967), pp. 1203-1207
(2) See for instance Bacon’s Novum Organum, first book, section 129 near the end where he states ” Only let mankind regain their rights over nature, assigned to them by the gift of God, and obtain that power, whose exercise will be governed by right reason and true religion.”
(3) first published 1972, 1994 edition published by McGill-Queen’s University Press.