Genesis 1:29

Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every seed-bearing plant on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit contains seed. They will be yours for food.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — God speaks to the humanity he has just created and blessed (1:28), on the sixth day of creation. The command to be fruitful, fill, and rule is immediately followed by this provision of food.

The words — הִנֵּה (hi.Neh) is a demonstrative interjection, "behold" or "look!" — it points to something already in view. נָתַתִּי (na.Ta.ti) is Qal perfect first-person singular, "I have given," presenting the grant as a completed fact rather than a promise.

The thread — The grant is later broadened after the flood to include animal flesh (Genesis 9:3), while Psalms 104:14 and 145:15 echo the same pattern: God makes grass grow and provides food in season.

Why it lands — It places the reader's daily sustenance inside a deliberate act of giving, not a neutral natural process. The "I have given" is a claim of intention that the reader must either accept or reject.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

King James Version

And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.

Cross-references

Genesis 9:3 Everything that lives and moves will be food for you; just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you all things.
Psalms 104:14 He makes the grass grow for the livestock and provides crops for man to cultivate, bringing forth food from the earth:
Psalms 145:15 The eyes of all look to You, and You give them their food in season.
Psalms 104:27 All creatures look to You to give them their food in due season.
Psalms 147:9 He provides food for the animals, and for the young ravens when they call.
Acts 14:17 Yet He has not left Himself without testimony to His goodness: He gives you rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling your hearts with food and gladness.”
Job 36:31 For by these He judges the nations and provides food in abundance.
Psalms 24:1 A Psalm of David. The earth is the LORD’s, and the fullness thereof, the world and all who dwell therein.
Matthew 6:11 Give us this day our daily bread.
Matthew 6:25 Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?