Genesis 1:30

Gen 1:30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein [there is] life, [I have given] every green herb for meat: and it was so.

Ver. 30. And it was so.] Both man and beast were well paid of God’s appointment, as good cause they had; for he is no penny father, but openeth his hand, and filleth with his blessing every thing living. {Psa 145:16} "And it was so"; an undoubted argument surely of God’s infinite goodness, thus to have provided for so divers natures and appetites, divers food, remedies, and armour; {Psa 104:1-35} for men, especially, "filling their hearts with food and gladness" {Act 14:17}

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

30. to every beast of the earth] God ordains that the wild beasts, the birds, and all living creatures, shall have the leaves for their food. The words, “every green herb,” would be more literally “all the green, or verdure, of the herbs.” A distinction is, therefore, drawn between the food ordained for mankind and the food ordained for the animals. Man is to have the herb bearing seed and the fruit of the trees (Gen_1:29): the animals are to feed on the grass and the leaves.

for meat] This expression, here and in the previous verse, is liable to be misunderstood by English readers. The Hebrew means “for food.” The word “meat” is an old English term for “food.” Cf. St Luk_24:41 A.V. “He said unto them, Have ye here any meat?” R.V. “Have ye here anything to eat?”

It may be asked whether we are to understand that, according to Genesis 1, the nature of animals was different at the first from what it became afterwards, and that they did not prey upon one another. The reply is that this was evidently the belief of the Israelite, as represented in this chapter. Like other features of the picture, it is childlike and idealized. Palaeontology has demonstrated, that, from the earliest geological period at which animal life can be shewn to have existed, the animals preyed upon one another. From the earliest days of animal life nature has been “red in tooth and claw.”

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And to every beast of the earth,.... Wild or tame, the cattle on a thousand hills; God took care and provided for these, being all his creatures, and designed to answer some end or other by their creation:

and to every fowl of the air; that flies in it,

and to every creeping thing upon the earth; even the meanest and lowest insect:

wherein there is life; or "a living soul"; that has an animal life, which is to be supported by food:

I have given every green herb for meat; the leaves for some, and seed for others; and here is no mention made of flesh; and perhaps those creatures which are now carnivorous were not so at their first creation:

and it was so; every creature, both man and beast, had food suitable to their nature and appetite, and a sufficiency of it. (From Rom 5:12, it is certain that up until the fall no animal ate other animals, otherwise there would have been death before Adam's first sin, which is said to be the cause of death. Ed.)

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat. The first of the three classes of plants, grass, was assigned to the animals for food. From this Delitzsch infers that prior to the introduction of sin the animals were not predaceous. The geological evidence of the existence of death in prehistoric times is, however, too powerful to be resisted; and the Biblical record itself enumerates among the pre-adamic animals the chayyah of the field, which clearly belonged to the carnivora. Perhaps the most that can be safely concluded from the language is "that it indicates merely the general fact that the support of the whole animal kingdom is based on vegetation" (Dawson).

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

General Information:

God continues speaking.

every bird of the heavens

"all the birds that fly in the sky"

that has the breath of life

"that breathes." This phrase emphasizes that these animals had a different kind of life than the plants. Plants do not breathe, and were to be used as food for the animals. Here "life" means physical life.

It was so

"It happened like that" or "That is what happened." What God commanded happened just as he said it should. This phrase appears throughout the chapter and has the same meaning. See how you translated it in Genesis 1:7.

Behold, it

"This is true and important: it"

it was very good

Now when God looked at everything he had made, it was "very good. "See how you translated "it was good" in Genesis 1:10.

evening and morning

This refers to the whole day. The writer speaks of the whole day as if it were these two parts. In the Jewish culture, a day begins when the sun sets. See how you translated this in Genesis 1:5. (See: Merism)

the sixth day

This refers to the sixth day that the universe existed. See how you translated "the first day" in Genesis 1:5 and decide if you should translate this the same way.

translationWords

life

God

good

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

ולכל..אשר בו נפש חיה, seeing that any creature possessing a life-force called nefesh chayah is superior to even the most advanced form of vegetation. It is a rule within this universe that inferior beings have been created to be made use of by more advanced types of beings.

ירק עשב, the word ירק has been placed in the construct mode to the word עשב because generally עשב is not consumed totally, only the green part, ירק, is generally considered as attractive enough to serve as food as long as it is fresh.

ויהי כן, each of the species G’d had created ate the kind of plant allocated to it as food by the Creator.

Radak on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash” (CC BY 4.0); “Rabbi Mike Feuer, Jerusalem Anthology” (CC BY 4.0); and “R. David Kimhi on the first book of Psalms, Translated by R.G. Finch, London, 1919” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.