man’s glorious destiny. The introductory “And God blessed them,” heading verse 28, covers all that God declares in the rest of the verse about humanity fruitfully multiplying and universally ruling. In verse 22, God spoke blessing out over the lower creation: “And God blessed them, saying …” But here in verse 28, God speaks his blessing to us personally and directly: “And God blessed them. And God said to them …,” authorizing both male and female to rule, to develop successful human cultures, to