What verse says we have dominion over the earth?
Rachel Newton
Updated on March 17, 2026
And 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.
In respect to this, what does it mean to have dominion over the earth?
It is traditionally interpreted as “to subdue” or “to rule over.” When taken to an extreme, it can include oppression and exploitation. However, an exploited planet Earth does not leave humanity richer.
Similarly, what is dominion according to the Bible? When you are in charge of something or rule it, you have dominion over it. The most famous use of the word occurs in the Christian Bible, when God grants people dominion over other animals. This is an old-fashioned and Biblical-sounding word for having power. A king has dominion over his kingdom.
In this way, who has dominion over the earth?
In Genesis 1:28, God -- or at least, the ancient Israelite version -- told the newly created Adam and Eve to establish their reign over the Earth, "God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.
Which verse in the Bible is referred to as the dominion mandate?
In Judaism, Christianity, and some other Abrahamic religions, the cultural mandate is the divine injunction found in Genesis 1:28, in which God, after having created the world and all in it, ascribes to humankind the tasks of filling, subduing, and ruling over the earth.