Genesis 1:28
“God blessed them. God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.””
This passage is from the first book of the Hebrew Bible, Genesis, which describes the creation of the world. Here, God has just created humanity, male and female, on the sixth day, and these words are God's first address to them, establishing their role within the newly created order.
What does 'subdue' and 'rule' mean for human responsibility towards the natural world?