“Subdue the earth” - What Genesis 1:28 Teaches Us About the ‘earth’, Technology, and the Cosmos

Since humans have read the command in Genesis 1:28 to "fill the earth and subdue it," this phrase was — and still is — read through the lens of agriculture. To our ancestors and to most Christians today, it means managing the wilderness, planting food, and domesticating animals.

But what happens when our agrarian challenges have been essentially figured out with modern technology (i.e. farming equipment, software, and government agencies to manage the wilderness) as it has been today? Does this specific Biblical mandate end?

No. In fact, a pure agriculture view is not the full picture of subduing the earth. If we go to the original Hebrew, this mandate scales up.

Enter the Historical Meaning of “earth”

Perhaps the most fascinating implication of Genesis 1:28 lies in the word for "earth": 'eretz.

To the ancient mind, 'eretz wasn't a spinning sphere in space; it was the physical, material domain of humanity, distinct from the heavens. The Hebrew word 'eretz meant dirt, soil, dry ground, or a bounded territory. It described the surface upon which life could walk and take root.

More Historical Context: Capitalized "Earth" vs. Lowercase "earth"

When we capitalized the word ‘earth’ to ‘Earth’ in order to name our planet, we narrowed a concept into our address in the universe.

However, if humans land on another body of soil — not on this planet — they are, by the word's oldest and original definition, standing on "earth." In this sense, any celestial body with solid ground capable of sustaining life is functionally an earth.

If humanity eventually builds colonies on Mars or harnesses the energy of an atom to eliminate scarcity, this “earthly” material substance becomes part of our 'eretz — our habitable domain. The "earth" in Genesis isn't a boundary meant to keep us fenced in; it is a starting point.

What Does “Subdue” Mean?

The Hebrew word for "subdue" is kavash. To an ancient farmer, this meant taking the wild, chaotic potential of the earth and doing the hard work to make it ordered and habitable.

Over time, science has uncovered the complexities within the “earth” and the physical laws that govern it.

The Bible never talked about the printing press, computers, the internet, phones, cars, airplanes, etc. Our technical breakthroughs are nothing new to Him. Christ is the creator of all things. In fact, we are not making or adding new laws of the universe. We are only discovering what He has already created from the beginning of time.

Whether it was the discovery of bronze and iron leading to more advanced construction and military armory to building a home with modern computer technology and materials or writing software to solve massive global problems, we are doing exactly what kavash (subdue) requires:

We are taking the raw, unstructured earth (i.e. material of the world) and organizing it into something that can promote human flourishing.

So as society has moved from plowing dirt to writing code, and from navigating oceans to having capabilities to one day traverse the stars — the command hasn't changed; only our tools do.

Developing modern technological advances isn’t antithetical to the “Creation Mandate”; in fact, it can be the ultimate expression of harnessing what God has given us to better humanity and creation.

If God embedded immense potential energy in the atom and in the Sun’s solar energy, leaving it untapped is like humanity burying a talent in the ground.

“It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings.”
— Proverbs 25:2