DEUT3 In his last address to Israel, Moses refers to the fulfillment of the blessing which has multiplied Israel like the stars of the heaven, to which the lawgiver adds his own benediction: "May the Lord, the God of your fathers, increase your numbers a thousandfold, and bless you as He promised you" [this verse]. The reward of obedience to the commandments of God would be prevention of miscarriage (Exodus 23:26). God will multiply Israel, so that there will be no barren one among them, neither male nor female (Deuteronomy 7:13-14; 28:4; Cf. Lev. 26:9) The reverse will happen if God's commandments will be disregarded: "You shall be left few in number, after having been as numerous as the stars in heaven." (Deut. 28:62; Cf. Lev 26:22). The great blessing, then, for the human species is fertility--not because more hands were needed to operate farms or to engage in defense. That the blessing of fertility included all animate beings (particularly those whose usefulness to man is less obvious) precludes its having a utilitarian purpose. The first chapter of Genesis does not conceive of the blessing of fertility as associated with labor, aggression, or defense. In this Chapter, God has designated grass and fruit-trees to serve as food for both men and animals. The hard labor to which man was subjected and the need for many hands to assist him in his back-breaking work was not contemplated in the original plan of creation. Genesis pictures a pacific world in which there is no conflict between man and man or between man and other creatures. Neither does it envision Internecine warfare within the animal kingdom (Cf. Nachmanides, Gen. 1:29; Bahya, ibid.; Cf. also Nachmanides to Lev. 26:4.) The blessing of fertility would appear to have emanated from the great delight experienced by God in creating the world and its inhabitants. "May the glory of Lord endure forever; let the Lord rejoice in His works." (Ps. 104:31).