Genesis - Chapter 01 - Line 00029

Contemplative Summary

And God said, “See, I have given you every plant bearing seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree that has in it seed-bearing fruit — it shall be for food for you.”

After blessing comes provision. The divine voice, now gentle and generous, shifts from command to gift: hineh natatti lachem — “behold, I have given to you.” This is not reward but grace, a declaration that sustenance precedes striving. The Creator does not merely permit survival but establishes abundance as the natural order. Two sources of nourishment are named — the seed-bearing plant and the fruiting tree — symbols of continuity and renewal. In each, the seed (zera) repeats creation’s secret: life contains within itself the pattern of its own future.

The gift is comprehensive — “upon the face of all the earth” — unbounded, communal, meant for all. Here humanity learns its first posture toward creation: to receive. Before dominion, there is dependency; before cultivation, communion. The world is revealed as a shared table, not a conquered field. To contemplate this line is to return to that original generosity — to see food as covenant, as relationship, as the ongoing conversation between divine giving and human gratitude. Every seed, every fruit, every act of nourishment is a quiet reminder of the beginning: that life itself was first offered, freely, into our open hands.