Tim Maas Retired Quality Assurance Specialist with the U.S. Army

God said to Adam in Genesis 2 that he could freely eat of every tree in the Garden of Eden except for the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. As far as I am aware, there is no mention between then and Genesis 9 of people eating meat.

After the Flood (Genesis 9:3-4), God gave Noah (as the new progenitor of the entire human race) permission for people to eat anything (including animals), as long as the blood of the animals was not consumed.

Later, in the Law given by God through Moses specifically to the descendants of Jacob (Israel) (but not to the whole world), God restricted the diet of the Israelites by totally forbidding the use of certain animals as food (Leviticus 11).

June 28 2018 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Aurel Gheorghe

There is no mention of flesh eating prior to the Flood and it make sense to believe that meat entered human diet only after the Flood. When the floodwaters receded, the earth had little or no vegetation. There would have been no fruit or nuts for Noah and his family to eat, probably for a number of years. So, the Lord allowed Noah to consume meat (Gen 9:3).

However, in Genesis 7:2 God makes a clear distinction between the clean and unclean animals going into the ark. Thus, the concept of clean and unclean meat cannot be a Jewish concept with any ceremonial implications. 

Although the dietary restrictions God gave to Moses are recorded in Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14, the first mention of clean/unclean meat appears way before that, in Genesis 7:1-3. Noah was not a Jew and all of us are his offspring. Only later, the descendants of Abraham become known as Jews. So, in the early days, God instructed them in the concept of clean and unclean animals. 

The clean/unclean concept predates the laws of Moses; therefore, it applies to all humanity, not just one particular group. We know that the digestive system of Jews is not any different than the Gentile, thus it would make little sense to believe that God had a special diet only for Jews (Isaiah 66:17) - while everyone else can eat whatever they like (Ex 15:26).

June 28 2018 • 4 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Tab Bush

God said man is given “plants seeding seed” and “trees with fruit bearing seed” to eat. This may mean that man was to eat (1) fibrous plants with little nutrition during their seeding time, (2) seeds of plants, (3) all parts of trees like bark and leaves including, (4) fruits and nuts. 

But when man came out of the ark, it is unclear that God told man he could eat animals. Instead, it seems clear from the Hebrew wording that Noah was told to eat any “creeping thing,” and also that Noah could eat “green plants.” Notice that “green plants” were originally given for animals to eat.

Since man was originally supposed to eat seeding plants, you may notice that after the flood, all plants would be dead. There would be seeds in the earth that would eventually spring back up (as anyone with a garden knows about weed seeds). But at first, there would only be green plants, rather than seeding plants and trees. And bugs multiply more rapidly than animals. 

We know that if Noah brought seven pairs of clean animals, then he could have eaten them without making certain species go extinct. However, there are two separate accounts of whether or not Noah was told to bring different numbers of pairs of clean and unclean animals. And, again, it’s unclear if animals being given into Noah’s hand and being afraid of men meant necessarily that God was saying they could be eaten after the flood.

We know that after the flood, people did start eating meat. We also know that kinds of meat were restricted by the law of Moses, along with kinds of insects. It seems that in the law of Moses the main kind of bug allowed to be eaten were crickets/grasshoppers/locusts.

April 05 2024 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report