{
  "id": "dict_002693",
  "term": "Increase",
  "slug": "increase",
  "letter": "I",
  "entry_type": "general_bible_word",
  "entry_family": "theological_term",
  "depth_profile": "standard",
  "short_definition": "A broad Bible word for growth, multiplication, enlargement, or added fruitfulness under God’s providence.",
  "simple_one_line": "In Scripture, increase means growth or multiplication that comes under God’s blessing and rule.",
  "tooltip_text": "A general Bible term for growth, multiplication, or enlargement; context determines whether the reference is material, numerical, or spiritual.",
  "aliases": [],
  "scripture_references": [],
  "original_language_terms": [],
  "related_entries": [
    "Blessing",
    "Fruitfulness",
    "Growth",
    "Multiplication",
    "Prosperity",
    "Providence",
    "Stewardship"
  ],
  "see_also": [
    "Fruit",
    "Kingdom of God",
    "Seed and Sower",
    "Wisdom",
    "Increase of Christ"
  ],
  "lede_intro": "Increase in Scripture is a broad term for growth, multiplication, or enlargement. It may describe crops, descendants, wealth, wisdom, peace, or ministry fruit, but the Bible presents true increase as ultimately dependent on the Lord.",
  "at_a_glance_definition": "Increase is any kind of growth or multiplication described in the Bible, whether material, numerical, or spiritual.",
  "at_a_glance_key_points": [
    "Context determines the kind of increase in view",
    "God is the giver of blessing and fruitfulness",
    "Human effort matters, but growth depends on the Lord",
    "Increase can be good, neutral, or misleading depending on the passage"
  ],
  "description_academic_short": "In the Bible, increase is a general term for growth, multiplication, or prosperity under God’s providence. It can describe material abundance, family growth, national expansion, or the increase of righteousness, wisdom, and ministry fruit. Because the word is broad and context-dependent, it should be defined carefully from the passage in which it appears.",
  "description_academic_full": "Increase in biblical usage usually refers to growth, multiplication, or enlargement that God permits or blesses. The term can be used in earthly senses, such as crops, livestock, wealth, or descendants, and it can also be used more broadly for the spread of wisdom, righteousness, peace, or the word of God. Scripture consistently presents true increase as dependent on the Lord rather than on human effort alone, though the exact meaning varies by context. Because this is a broad Bible word rather than a sharply defined doctrinal category, any dictionary treatment should avoid assigning a single technical theological meaning and should explain the sense in relation to the immediate passage.",
  "background_biblical_context": "From Genesis onward, Scripture links increase with God’s blessing in creation, covenant, and daily provision. The Bible also shows that numerical, material, and spiritual growth are not identical: some increase is a sign of blessing, while other forms of outward enlargement may be spiritually empty or even dangerous if they are detached from obedience to God.",
  "background_historical_context": "In the ancient world, increase was often associated with family survival, agricultural yield, and national strength. Biblical writers use that ordinary language, but they place it under divine sovereignty rather than treating fertility or prosperity as automatic outcomes of human skill.",
  "background_jewish_ancient_context": "In Old Testament thought, increase could describe covenant blessing in offspring, harvest, livestock, and national security. Wisdom writings also extend the idea to understanding and righteousness. The basic biblical pattern is that the Lord gives fruitful growth, and his people are called to receive it with gratitude and obedience.",
  "key_texts_primary": [
    "Genesis 1:28",
    "Deuteronomy 7:13",
    "Proverbs 1:5",
    "Isaiah 9:7",
    "Mark 4:8",
    "Acts 6:7",
    "1 Corinthians 3:6-7"
  ],
  "key_texts_secondary": [
    "Genesis 26:12-14",
    "Psalm 115:14",
    "Proverbs 11:24-25",
    "1 Thessalonians 3:12",
    "2 Peter 3:18"
  ],
  "original_language_note": "English increase commonly translates Hebrew and Greek words meaning to multiply, grow, become many, or grow larger. The exact original term varies by passage, so the context must determine the sense.",
  "theological_significance": "Increase points to God as the source of fruitfulness, provision, and kingdom growth. It also reminds readers that outward expansion is not self-generated and is not always the same as spiritual maturity. The Bible’s concern is not merely more, but right and godly increase under God’s blessing.",
  "philosophical_explanation": "Biblically, growth is not an impersonal law of nature but a dependent reality. Causes and means matter—seed, labor, teaching, stewardship, prayer—but Scripture assigns the decisive increase to God’s sovereign provision and timing.",
  "interpretive_cautions": "Do not assume every mention of increase refers to prosperity, and do not treat every increase as proof of divine approval. The passage must decide whether the term is speaking of crops, descendants, wisdom, the church, or some other form of growth.",
  "major_views_note": "Most interpreters treat increase as a broad descriptive term rather than a doctrine with one fixed meaning. The main interpretive question is usually contextual: what is increasing, by what means, and for what purpose?",
  "doctrinal_boundaries": "Increase should not be turned into a promise of guaranteed material prosperity. Scripture affirms God’s blessing and provision, but it also affirms suffering, testing, and the need for faithful endurance. True spiritual fruit is governed by God’s grace and truth, not by techniques alone.",
  "practical_significance": "Believers may pray for increase in wisdom, holiness, love, and gospel fruit, while practicing faithful stewardship in ordinary duties. The term also encourages gratitude, because growth comes from the Lord rather than from human power alone.",
  "meta_description": "Increase in Scripture is a broad term for growth, multiplication, or enlargement under God’s providence. Context determines whether it refers to material, numerical, or spiritual growth.",
  "public_url": "/companion-bible-dictionary/increase/",
  "json_url": "/companion-bible-dictionary/data/dictionary/increase.json",
  "final_disposition": "PUBLISH_CANONICAL"
}