“ וַיְבָ֣רֶךְ אֹתָם֮ אֱלֹהִים֒ וַיֹּ֨אמֶר לָהֶ֜ם אֱלֹהִ֗ים פְּר֥וּ וּרְב֛וּ וּמִלְא֥וּ אֶת־הָאָ֖רֶץ וְכִבְשֻׁ֑הָ וּרְד֞וּ בִּדְגַ֤ת הַיָּם֙ וּבְע֣וֹף הַשָּׁמַ֔יִם וּבְכָל־חַיָּ֖ה הָֽרֹמֶ֥שֶׂת עַל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃ “
“ God blessed them and God said to them, “Be fertile and increase, fill the earth and master it; and rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and all the living things that creep on earth.” -Genesis 1:28
וכבשה AND SUBDUE IT — The word lacks a ו after the ש so that it may be read as meaning: and subdue her (i. e. the woman), thereby teaching you that the male controls the female in order that she may not become a gad-about; teaching you also that to the man, whose nature is to master, was given the Divine command to have issue, and not to the woman (Yevamot 65b).
And God blessed them: That is a true blessing. Therefore, [here] it is written, "and God said to them." But above (verse 22), it is written, "And God blessed them, saying," [which] is explained as the blessing [only] being the [actual] proclamation by which he gave them the power to reproduce, [but] not a different proclamation through which they would be blessed (as was the case with man). "And fill the earth:" A blessing that they should fill the earth due to their great number. And according to my opinion, He blessed them that they fill all of the earth, [meaning] that the nations should separate into their families to the corners of the world due to their great number. And they should not be in one place, [such an idea being] the thought of the men of the Generation of Dispersion (at the time of the Tower of Babel). "And subdue it:"He gave them the power and rulership over the earth; to do whatever they wanted with the beasts and the swarming animals and all of those that slither on the ground; and to build and to uproot and plant and to quarry copper from its hills and [to do things] similar to this. And this is [all] included in its stating (above, verse 26), "and over all the earth." "And have dominion over the fish of the sea;" He said that they should have dominion also over the fish of the seas that are covered by them and over the fowl of the sky that are not with man upon the ground and [even] also over all [dangerous] animals. And He sequenced them according to their creation: the fish and the fowl first and the animals afterwards; and so [too] does the verse state (Psalms 8:7-9), "You have made him rule over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under His feet: Sheep and oxen - all of them, and also the beasts of the field; The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, etc." And our Rabbis differentiated between subduing and having dominion.
וכבשה, this is not a directive to conquer earth with muscular power, but to subdue it by means of man’s superior intellect. It means that man is to use his intelligence to prevent predators from invading his habitats, demonstrating the fact that man is superior, can outwit the beasts.
ורדו, trapping the beasts, training them to bend to man’s will.