Appendix:Gikun Usage in Meiji Version of Japanese Bible/繁息

Japanese

Kanji in this term
繁	息
Grade: S	Grade: 3
irregular

Alternative spelling
繁息 (kyūjitai)

Etymology

Gikun word derived by applying Chinese-derived spelling 繁息 (“multiply”), a term which decomposes into 繁 (“flourish”) + 息 (“give birth, multiply”), to native Japanese verb ふえる (fueru, “to multiply”).

Verb

繁息 (ふえ)^[1] (fue) → 増 (ふ)える, 殖 (ふ)える (fu.eru)

multiply (of fish)

※ See also 蕃息 (ふえ) and 繁殖 (ふえ). There are three gikun versions of ふえ (fue) in Genesis 1 (a different version for each time the word is used in regards to different creatures) literally multiplying the way in which this can be written and thereby emphasizing God's command for living things to multiply in the earth.

Quotations

^ OT, page 1:
神 (かみ)之(これ)を祝(しゆく)して曰(いは)く生(うめ)よ繁息(ふえ)よ海(うみ)の水(みづ)に充牣(みて)よ又(また)禽鳥(とり)は地(ち)に蕃息(ふえ)よと
Kami kore wo shuku shite iwaku umeyo fueyo umi no mizu ni miteyo mata tori wa chi ni fueyo to
And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.

[Gen_1:22-1] OT, page 1:
神 (かみ)之(これ)を祝(しゆく)して曰(いは)く生(うめ)よ繁息(ふえ)よ海(うみ)の水(みづ)に充牣(みて)よ又(また)禽鳥(とり)は地(ち)に蕃息(ふえ)よと
Kami kore wo shuku shite iwaku umeyo fueyo umi no mizu ni miteyo mata tori wa chi ni fueyo to
And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.

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