וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים הִנֵּה נָתַתִּי לָכֶם אֶת־כָּל־עֵשֶׂב זֹרֵעַ זֶרַע אֲשֶׁר עַל־פְּנֵי כָל־הָאָרֶץ וְאֶת־כָּל־הָעֵץ אֲשֶׁר־בֹּו פְרִי־עֵץ זֹרֵעַ זָרַע לָכֶם יִהְיֶה לְאָכְלָה׃ וּלְכָל־חַיַּת הָאָרֶץ וּלְכָל־עֹוף הַשָּׁמַיִם וּלְכֹל רֹומֵשׂ עַל־הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר־בֹּו נֶפֶשׁ חַיָּה אֶת־כָּל־יֶרֶק עֵשֶׂב לְאָכְלָה וַיְהִי־כֵן׃ וַיַּרְא אֱלֹהִים אֶת־כָּל־אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה וְהִנֵּה־טֹוב מְאֹד וַיְהִי־עֶרֶב וַיְהִי־בֹקֶר יֹום הַשִּׁשִּׁי׃
And God said: ‘Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed—to you it shall be for food; 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 a living soul, [I have given] every green herb for food.’ And it was so. And God saw every thing that He had made, and, behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. [JPS translation]
Suggested Discussion Questions:
What are the first instructions to Humans about what they can and can not eat?
Does this text suggest that a perfect world is a vegetarian one?
Given the text suggests even the beasts will be vegetarian, how does this impact our understanding of animal nature/instinct?
Time Period: Biblical (early ancestors to 165 BCE)