Genesis 1:28, Subdue the earth

And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
//In this verse, just after God creates humankind on the earth, he grants us dominion over all the animals and tells us to “subdue” the earth. What does this mean? There are two main ways of reading this, and I’ve heard both sides preached.
On the one hand, utilitarian readers interpret this verse as permission to use the earth as they wish, to their own end. Knowing that God will one day destroy his creation anyway, they reason that there’s no point of preserving it, and gladly accept the call to dominate all that lives.
On the other hand are those who see this verse as a call to care for the earth. They read the story of Adam and Eve in Eden, placed there to care for God’s garden, and see today’s verse as a similar call for responsible stewardship.
My own opinion? Logic dictates that we hedge our bets and come down on the “responsible stewardship” end of the spectrum, just in case God does want us to save the whales.
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