“God blessed Noah and his sons, and He said to them: Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth” (Genesis 9:1). “God blessed Noah and his sons, and He said to them: Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth” – this pertains to the merit of the offerings.55It was due to the merit of Noah’s sacrifices that God blessed mankind to be fruitful. “And fear of you and dread of you will be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every bird of the heavens, and upon all that crawls on the ground, and upon all fish of the sea: into your hand they are given” (Genesis 9:2).
“And fear of you and dread of you will be” – fear and dread were restored, but dominion was not restored.56When Adam was created, He had “dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle” (Genesis 1:26). When the decree of destruction was sealed against the generation of the Flood, the animals ceased to show any submissiveness to man. Now God restored the animals’ “fear and dread” of man, but stopped short of restoring man’s dominion over them.
When was it restored? It was in the days of Solomon, as it is stated: “For he had dominion57Including dominion over the animals. over the entire region beyond the river, from Tifsaḥ to Gaza” (I Kings 5:4). It is taught: Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar says: One may desecrate Shabbat on behalf of a day-old baby [to save its life], but one may not desecrate Shabbat on behalf of the dead David king of Israel.58Moving a dead body is forbidden on Shabbat, even that of King David himself.
As long as a person is alive, one may desecrate Shabbat on his behalf, but if he is dead, one may not desecrate Shabbat on his behalf. Likewise, Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar says: One need not guard a one-day-old baby from moles or snakes, that they not gouge out his eyes; [even] a lion sees him and flees, a serpent sees him and flees. But when [the giant] Og king of Bashan dies, one needs to guard him from moles and mice, that they not gouge out his eyes.
As long as a person his alive, fear of him is upon all the creatures. When he dies, fear of him is removed. That is what is written: “And fear of you and dread [ḥitekhen]59The Midrash interprets this word to be related to ḥayutkhem, during your life. of you will be [upon every beast].”