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.

GENESIS 1:30KJV
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Genesis 1:30 (KJV)

What does Genesis 1:30 mean?

Genesis 1:30 says that God provided every green plant as food for all the animals, birds, and creatures that move on the earth—anything that has life. This verse describes God’s care in making sure every living creature had what it needed to eat at the beginning of creation.

In this verse, God is speaking and declaring what food is given to animals, birds, and all creatures that move along the ground. The setting is the sixth day of creation, just after God has created living creatures and humans. The verse highlights that, according to this account, all animals were originally given plants to eat, not other animals.

The Hebrew behind Genesis 1:30

  • "Beast" (חַיָּה, chayyah): This word means a living creature or animal. In this context, it covers all kinds of land animals, not just wild beasts.
  • "Life" (נֶפֶשׁ, nephesh): This word is often understood as "soul" or "living being." Here, it emphasizes that these creatures are living, breathing beings, not just objects.
  • "Green" (יֶרֶק, yereq): This word specifically refers to green plants or vegetation. The detail stresses that the food provided is fresh, living plant matter, not just any kind of plant.
  • "Herb" (עֵשֶׂב, esev): This word means grass or herb, pointing to the kinds of plants animals would eat. It shows that the diet given is plant-based, not including seeds or fruit, which were mentioned separately for humans.

Why Genesis 1:30 matters

  • Genesis 1:30 clarifies that, in the creation account, all animals were originally given plants to eat, suggesting a peaceful, non-violent beginning for creation.
  • This verse emphasizes God’s provision and care for every living creature, not just humans, showing a broad concern for all life.
  • The verse connects to the wider creation story by showing order and intentionality in how God set up the world, with each creature having its needs met from the start.

Where else these words appear

“green” Hebrew H3418 · used in 6 verses

  • Genesis 9:3 Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things.
  • Exodus 10:15 For they covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened; and they did eat every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left: and there remained not any green thing in the trees, or in the herbs of the field, through all the land of Egypt.
  • Psalms 37:2 For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb.

“creepeth” Hebrew H7430 · used in 17 verses

  • Genesis 1:21 And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
  • Genesis 7:21 And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man:
  • Leviticus 11:46 This is the law of the beasts, and of the fowl, and of every living creature that moveth in the waters, and of every creature that creepeth upon the earth:

“meat” Hebrew H402 · used in 18 verses

  • Genesis 1:29 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.
  • Leviticus 25:6 And the sabbath of the land shall be meat for you; for thee, and for thy servant, and for thy maid, and for thy hired servant, and for thy stranger that sojourneth with thee,
  • Ezekiel 29:5 And I will leave thee thrown into the wilderness, thee and all the fish of thy rivers: thou shalt fall upon the open fields; thou shalt not be brought together, nor gathered: I have given thee for meat to the beasts of the field and to the fowls of the heaven.

“herb” Hebrew H6212 · used in 32 verses

  • Genesis 1:11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.
  • Deuteronomy 11:15 And I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou mayest eat and be full.
  • Psalms 105:35 And did eat up all the herbs in their land, and devoured the fruit of their ground.