פָּרָה

Genesis 1:22 פְּר֣וּ be fruitful

Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters of the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.”

Here: A plural command. It comes from the same root as peri, 'fruit'. For animals this means bearing young: producing offspring the way a tree produces fruit. It echoes the 'fruit trees bearing fruit' of v. 11–12.

Genesis 1:28 פְּר֥וּ be fruitful

God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every creature that crawls upon the earth.”

Here: "Bear fruit", the word used for plants and trees, here meaning to have offspring. It sounds like peri, "fruit", which appears in 1:29.

Genesis 8:17 וּפָר֥וּ and they will be fruitful

Bring out all the living creatures that are with you—birds, livestock, and everything that crawls upon the ground—so that they can spread out over the earth and be fruitful and multiply upon it.”

Here: Means to produce offspring, as a plant produces fruit. Here it is plain biological reproduction by animals, and it picks up God's blessing on the creatures in 1:22.

Genesis 9:1 פְּר֥וּ be fruitful

And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.

Here: Literally “bear fruit,” a farming picture used for having children. It is a command form, but coming after “blessed” it works as much like a grant (“you will bear fruit”) as an order.

Genesis 9:7 פְּר֣וּ be fruitful

But as for you, be fruitful and multiply; spread out across the earth and multiply upon it.”

Here: A plural command form. The image comes from plants bearing fruit, and here it means having offspring. It repeats word for word the blessing of 9:1 and the creation blessing of 1:28.

Genesis 17:6 וְהִפְרֵתִ֤י and I will make fruitful

I will make you exceedingly fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will descend from you.

Here: The causative form of the verb 'bear fruit': God himself will cause Abraham to bear offspring. The basic picture is a plant or tree bearing fruit, used throughout Genesis for having many children. The 'and' joins this to the name-change promise of verse 5 and carries it on into the future.

Genesis 17:20 וְהִפְרֵיתִ֥י and I will make fruitful

As for Ishmael, I have heard you, and I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He will become the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation.

Here: "I will cause him to bear fruit", meaning many children. It echoes the creation blessing (Gen 1:28) and the same verb God used for Abraham himself in 17:6.

Genesis 26:22 וּפָרִ֥ינוּ and we will be fruitful

He moved on from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. He named it Rehoboth and said, “At last the LORD has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land.”

Genesis 28:3 וְיַפְרְךָ֖ and may he make fruitful you

May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, so that you may become a company of peoples.

Here: A 'make someone do' form of 'be fruitful': God is the one who causes the fruitfulness. It echoes Genesis 1:28 and 9:1, and above all God's promise to Abraham under the name El Shaddai (17:6).

Genesis 35:11 פְּרֵ֣ה be fruitful

And God told him, “I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply. A nation—even a company of nations—shall come from you, and kings shall descend from you.

Here: An imperative, 'bear fruit!', the language of plants and wombs. It repeats the creation blessing of Gen 1:28 and the post-flood blessing of 9:1, now spoken to one man and his line.

Genesis 41:52 הִפְרַ֥נִי he has made fruitful me

And the second son he named Ephraim, saying, “God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.”

Genesis 47:27 וַיִּפְר֥וּ and they were fruitful

Now the Israelites settled in the land of Egypt, in the region of Goshen. They acquired property there and became fruitful and increased greatly in number.

Genesis 48:4 מַפְרְךָ֙ [am] about to make fruitful you

and told me, ‘Behold, I will make you fruitful and multiply you; I will make you a multitude of peoples, and will give this land to your descendants after you as an everlasting possession.’

Here: A causative form, 'causing you to bear fruit'. God is the one who does it. The word echoes the blessing at creation (Gen 1:28, 'be fruitful') and means having many children and descendants.

Genesis 49:22 פֹּרָת֙ פֹּרָ֖ת a fruit-bearer

Joseph is a fruitful vine—a fruitful vine by a spring, whose branches scale the wall.

Here: A feminine participle meaning 'a fruitful one (feminine)', with an old poetic ending -at in place of the usual -iyyah. So 'son of a fruitful one' means a shoot of a fruit-bearing vine or tree. It plays on the name Ephraim, Joseph's son, which Genesis 41:52 explains from the same root: 'God has made me fruitful'.

Exodus 1:7 פָּר֧וּ they were fruitful

but the Israelites were fruitful and increased rapidly; they multiplied and became exceedingly numerous, so that the land was filled with them.

Here: "They were fruitful": they bore children. It is the first word of God's creation blessing, 'Be fruitful and multiply' (Gen 1:28), and of the promises to Abraham and Jacob.

Exodus 23:30 תִּפְרֶ֔ה you will be fruitful

Little by little I will drive them out ahead of you, until you become fruitful and possess the land.

Leviticus 26:9 וְהִפְרֵיתִ֣י and I will make fruitful

I will turn toward you and make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will establish My covenant with you.

Here: A causative form, meaning God himself makes the people bear fruit. In context this means many children and a growing population. The wording deliberately repeats the language of Genesis.

Deuteronomy 29:18 פֹּרֶ֥ה bearing fruit

Make sure there is no man or woman, clan or tribe among you today whose heart turns away from the LORD our God to go and worship the gods of those nations. Make sure there is no root among you that bears such poisonous and bitter fruit,

Here: 'Fruiting', another ongoing participle. The verb is the one used for the blessing of fruitfulness (Gen 1:28; Deut 7:13), turned here to describe a crop of poison spreading.

Psalm 105:24 וַיֶּ֣פֶר and he made fruitful

And the LORD made His people very fruitful, more numerous than their foes,

Psalm 128:3 פֹּרִיָּה֮ fruitful

Your wife will be like a fruitful vine flourishing within your house, your sons like olive shoots sitting around your table.

Here: "Bearing fruit," a feminine participle (a verb form describing ongoing action). It is the same root as the creation blessing "be fruitful and multiply" (Gen 1:28). The point is that she is actually bearing: here, children, as the next line shows.

Isaiah 11:1 יִפְרֶֽה׃ it will bear fruit

Then a shoot will spring up from the stump of Jesse, and a Branch from his roots will bear fruit.

Here: 'Will bear fruit.' The sprout does more than survive. It matures and becomes productive, which leads into the fruitful reign described in 11:2–9. The ancient translations suggest a verb meaning 'sprout' or 'grow up' (see the textual notes).

Isaiah 17:6 פֹּֽרִיָּ֔ה fruit-bearing

Yet gleanings will remain, like an olive tree that has been beaten—two or three berries atop the tree, four or five on its fruitful branches,” declares the LORD, the God of Israel.

Isaiah 32:12 פֹּרִיָּֽה׃ fruitful

Beat your breasts for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vines,

Isaiah 45:8 וְיִפְרוּ־ so they may bear fruit

Drip down, O heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness. Let the earth open up that salvation may sprout and righteousness spring up with it; I, the LORD, have created it.

Here: 'And let them bear fruit.' This is the 'be fruitful' verb of Genesis 1:28, so the language is the language of creation. The plural subject is unclear (see textual notes). Most read it as 'so that salvation bears fruit'.

Jeremiah 3:16 וּפְרִיתֶ֨ם and you will be fruitful

“In those days, when you multiply and increase in the land,” declares the LORD, “they will no longer discuss the ark of the covenant of the LORD. It will never come to mind, and no one will remember it or miss it, nor will another one be made.

Here: 'And you will be fruitful.' Together with the verb before it, it echoes 'be fruitful and multiply' (Genesis 1:28; 35:11) and the covenant blessing of Leviticus 26:9. The usual order of the pair is reversed here.

Jeremiah 23:3 וּפָר֥וּ and they will be fruitful

Then I Myself will gather the remnant of My flock from all the lands to which I have banished them, and I will return them to their pasture, where they will be fruitful and multiply.

Here: 'And they will be fruitful'. With the next word it forms the creation blessing of Genesis 1:28, now applied to a people reduced by war and exile.

Ezekiel 19:10 פֹּֽרִיָּה֙ fruitful

Your mother was like a vine in your vineyard, planted by the water; it was fruitful and full of branches because of the abundant waters.

Here: "Fruitful", "fruit-bearing", an ongoing state. The word sounds like Genesis 49:22 ("Joseph is a fruitful bough by a spring") and recalls the fruitfulness blessing of Genesis. For a royal vine, the "fruit" is offspring: many sons, many potential kings.

Ezekiel 36:11 וּפָר֑וּ and they will be fruitful

I will fill you with people and animals, and they will multiply and be fruitful. I will make you as inhabited as you once were, and I will make you prosper more than before. Then you will know that I am the LORD.

Here: To bear offspring and flourish. Joined with "multiply" it calls up the creation blessing (Gen 1:22, 28) and the covenant blessing (Lev 26:9), though here the usual order is reversed to "multiply and be fruitful."