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Was humanity vegetarian before the flood?

Direct

A clear verse states this directly, and no higher-or-equal-authority text overturns it.

Yes, the text directly states that God gave humanity only plants and fruit as food at creation (Genesis 1:29), and that meat was added only after the flood (Genesis 9:3), with God's own words marking the change.

God's direct speech in Genesis 1:29 assigns only seed-bearing plants and fruit trees as human food; God's direct speech in Genesis 9:3 then explicitly expands this to every moving creature, using the phrase "as I gave you the green herb" to mark the contrast with the prior arrangement, both statements are God's own words, and the later one explicitly references the earlier.

Key texts:
Genesis 1:29Tier 1 · God
“God said, “Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed, which is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree, which bears fruit yielding seed. It will be your food.”
Genesis 1:30Tier 1 · God
“To every animal of the earth, and to every bird of the sky, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food;” and it was so.”
Genesis 9:3Tier 5 · Other
“Every moving thing that lives will be food for you. As I gave you the green herb, I have given everything to you.”

…and 7 more verses weighed in the full analysis.

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Original-language words behind this answer:
ʻôwph (Hebrew H5775)ṭâhôwr (Hebrew H2889)kebes (Hebrew H3532)yachad (Hebrew H3162)ʼak (Hebrew H389)shebaʻ (Hebrew H7651)shᵉnayim (Hebrew H8147)ʼishshâh (Hebrew H802)hinnêh (Hebrew H2009)

SAM answers from primary-source texts only, weighing each verse by its authority tier. Every quotation is verified word-for-word. How the method works →

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