Bring forth is the opposite of the command God gave Noah in 6.19. He is now instructed to “take out, bring out, cause to leave” from the boat all the animals. Every living thing is the same expression used in 1.28 and refers to “all the animals and birds” (Good News Translation). Of all flesh (as in 6.19) is added to every living thing without changing the meaning. Revised Standard Version employs a dash after flesh to show that the expression refers to the things named next.
Birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth refers again to birds, and to large and small animals. See 6.20. Good News Translation shortens this list to “all the birds and animals.”
That they may breed abundantly on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply upon the earth is literally “swarm on the earth and bear and multiply on the earth.” This statement is closely linked to 1.22, in which God blesses the birds and sea creatures with the power of reproduction. It may be taken as a command in English, “let them breed and have many offspring…,” or as a wish, “May they breed and have many young ones….” Good News Translation translates the statement as a purpose clause: “so that they may reproduce….” Good News Translation also switches the two clauses, since bearing offspring must occur before there are enough to fill the earth; thus “swarm on the earth” is translated “spread over all the earth,” and “bear and multiply” is rendered “reproduce.” We may also translate, for example, “Let them have many young ones, and let them spread throughout the earth” or “May they have many offspring and live everywhere.” Examples from recent translations are “so that they will give birth much in many places, and so that they will grow and become numerous” and “they will be able to go around and give birth to young, and they will become numerous in every part of the world.”
Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Genesis. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .