Genesis 1:26-28 explains that God created human beings in his own image and gave them a shared calling to care for the earth and everything living in it. The passage answers two questions at once: what kind of creatures we are, and what God made us to do.
These verses sit at the close of the creation account in Genesis 1, the account of the sixth day, just before God rests on the seventh. The writer has already described God forming light, sky, land, plants, sea creatures, birds and land animals. Humanity arrives last, and the way it arrives marks it as different from everything that came before.
26 God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 God created man in his own image. In God’s image he created him; male and female he created them. 28 God blessed them. God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
Genesis 1:26-28 (WEB)
Genesis 1:26-28 Summary
God announces his intention to make humankind in his image and likeness, and to give them dominion over the fish, birds, livestock and creeping things. The narrator then reports that God did exactly that, creating humans as male and female. The passage ends with God blessing them and speaking a commission: be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, subdue it, and rule over the living creatures.
The argument moves in a clear order. First comes the divine decision, then the act of creation, then the blessing and the assignment. Each step builds on the last, so that human identity and human purpose are presented together as one gift from God.
Context of Genesis 1:26-28
Genesis is the first book of the Torah, the five books traditionally attributed to Moses. Most readers understand the opening chapters as a foundational account written to show that the world has one good Creator, not a rivalry of competing gods. The original audience was probably the people of Israel, shaped by the wider ancient Near Eastern world but learning to see God’s order in a distinctive way.
The surrounding verses in Genesis 1:23-31 show the pattern. God speaks, creation responds, and God pronounces each day good. The creatures of the land and sea are made “after their kind,” and then humanity is set apart by a deliberate, communal act of making. The verses just after the passage add that God gives plants and seed-bearing trees as food, and then declares everything very good.
Genesis 1:26-28 Verse by Verse
Psalm 8:4-6
4 What is man, that you think of him? What is the son of man, that you care for him? 5 For you have made him a little lower than the angels, and crowned him with glory and honor. 6 You make him ruler over the works of your hands. You have put all things under his feet…
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The psalmist marvels that God cares for mortal humans and has crowned them with glory and honor. The passage echoes Genesis by describing human rule over the works of God’s hands, so the two texts read well together.
Colossians 3:10
And have put on the new man, who is being renewed in knowledge after the image of his Creator…
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Paul speaks of the new self being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its Creator. He connects the restoration of believers to the image first given in creation, showing how God’s purpose for humanity continues into the New Testament.
A Prayer Based on Genesis 1:26-28
Lord, you made people in your image and gave us work to do in the world you love. Help me remember that the person in front of me carries that same dignity, even when it is hard to see. Teach me to care for the earth, the animals and the people around me with wisdom and gentleness. Where I have treated your gifts carelessly, forgive me, and show me how to bless rather than harm. Let my ordinary days reflect something of your faithful rule. Amen.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does it mean that humans are made in God’s image?
It means people reflect God’s character and are able to relate to him, to think, to love and to act responsibly. The image is not located in one body part but in the whole person as God’s representative. Christians across history have read this as the basis for human dignity.
Does “dominion” give humans permission to exploit nature?
Most readers today see dominion as stewardship modeled on God’s own wise and good rule. The surrounding verses describe creation as very good, which points toward care rather than abuse. The call to subdue is best read within that framework of order and blessing.
Why does the passage mention both male and female?
Verse 27 states that God created humans male and female, and both are equally bearers of his image. The text presents them together, without ranking one above the other. This shapes a Christian view of equal dignity between men and women.
