Genesis 1:30

to every beast of the earth God ordains that the wild beasts, the birds, and all living creatures, shall have the leaves for their food. The words, "every green herb," would be more literally "all the green, or verdure, of the herbs." A distinction is, therefore, drawn between the food ordained for mankind and the food ordained for the animals. Man is to have the herb bearing seed and the fruit of the trees (Genesis 1:29): the animals are to feed on the grass and the leaves.

for meat This expression, here and in the previous verse, is liable to be misunderstood by English readers. The Hebrew means "for food." The word "meat" is an old English term for "food." Cf. St Luke 24:41 A.V. "He said unto them, Have ye here any meat?" R.V. "Have ye here anything to eat?"

It may be asked whether we are to understand that, according to Genesis 1, the nature of animals was different at the first from what it became afterwards, and that they did not prey upon one another. The reply is that this was evidently the belief of the Israelite, as represented in this chapter. Like other features of the picture, it is childlike and idealized. Palaeontology has demonstrated, that, from the earliest geological period at which animal life can be shewn to have existed, the animals preyed upon one another. From the earliest days of animal life nature has been "red in tooth and claw."