Genesis - Chapter 01 - Line 00030

Contemplative Summary

And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the skies, and to everything that creeps upon the earth — that has in it a living soul — I have given every green plant for food. And it was so.

The circle of provision completes. What was spoken to humanity in the previous verse now extends outward to every creature that breathes. The divine generosity, natatti, “I have given,” flows without distinction, encompassing all beings that move and live — nefesh chayyah, the living soul. In this giving, hierarchy dissolves; the same breath that animates humankind pulses through beast and bird and creeping thing alike. Life is not stratified but interwoven, sustained by a shared table of green — kol yereq esev, every herb of the field.

This verse imagines an ecology before violence, a world nourished through harmony rather than hunger. The act of giving plants for food encodes reciprocity into creation itself: vitality passed from light to leaf to living being. The closing phrase, vayhi-ken — “and it was so” — seals this order in coherence, the field settling into peace. To contemplate this line is to remember the original trust between creation and Creator: that sustenance arises not from conquest but communion. Every act of nourishment, every breath exchanged, is part of this first covenant of care — the green promise that life is meant to feed life without fear.