43. Verse 22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas; and let birds be multiplied upon the earth.

Everything that has life in it from the Lord is fruitful and multiplies without limit. This does not happen during a person's lifetime, but in the next life it does so to an astonishing extent. In the Word 'to be fruitful' has reference to matters of love, while 'to multiply' has reference to matters of faith. The fruit of love contains the seed by which it multiplies itself to so great an extent. The Lord' s blessing also means, in the Word, fruitfulness and multiplication, for they are the outcome of that blessing.

Verse 23 And there was evening, and there was morning, a fifth day.

3514. 'And I will bless you before Jehovah' means conjunction thereby. This is clear from the meaning of 'I will bless you' as an alliance to its own life, dealt with above in 3504. Here, because the words 'I will bless you before Jehovah' are used, conjunction is meant. The expression 'alliance' is used to refer to the communication of the truth of the natural with the good of the rational, but the expression 'conjunction' to refer to the communication of the good of the natural with the good of the rational. For a parallelism exists between God and man so far as celestial things, which are forms of good, are concerned, but not where spiritual things, which are forms of truth, are concerned, see 1832.