Genesis 1:29
וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים הִנֵּה נָתַתִּי לָכֶם אֶת־כָּל־עֵשֶׂב׀ זֹרֵעַ זֶרַע אֲשֶׁר עַל־פְּנֵי כָל־הָאָרֶץ וְאֶת־כָּל־הָעֵץ אֲשֶׁר־בּוֹ פְרִי־עֵץ זֹרֵעַ זָרַע לָכֶם יִֽהְיֶה לְאָכְלָֽה׃
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✦ The same verse in five languages
וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֗ים הִנֵּה֩ נָתַ֨תִּי לָכֶ֜ם אֶת־כָּל־עֵ֣שֶׂב׀ זֹרֵ֣עַ זֶ֗רַע אֲשֶׁר֙ עַל־פְּנֵ֣י כָל־הָאָ֔רֶץ וְאֶת־כָּל־הָעֵ֛ץ אֲשֶׁר־בּ֥וֹ פְרִי־עֵ֖ץ זֹרֵ֣עַ זָ֑רַע לָכֶ֥ם יִֽהְיֶ֖ה לְאָכְלָֽה׃
καὶ εἶπεν ὁ θεός ἰδοὺ δέδωκα ὑμῖν πᾶν χόρτον σπόριμον σπεῖρον σπέρμα, ὅ ἐστιν ἐπάνω πάσης τῆς γῆς· καὶ πᾶν ξύλον, ὃ ἔχει ἐν ἑαυτῷ καρπὸν σπέρματος σπορίμου· ὑμῖν ἔσται εἰς βρῶσιν,
Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0
Latin (Vulgate)
Dixitque Deus: Ecce dedi vobis omnem herbam afferentem semen super terram, et universa ligna quæ habent in semetipsis sementem generis sui, ut sint vobis in escam:
Y dijo Dios: He aquí que os he dado toda hierba que da simiente, que está sobre la haz de toda la tierra; y todo árbol en que hay fruto de árbol que da simiente, seros ha para comer.
Then God said, “ Behold, I have given you every seed-bearing plant on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit contains seed. They will be yours for food.
✦ What the text says
Summary
Genesis 1:29 opens a new divine speech: with the interjection "behold," God declares in the first person that he has given humans every seed-bearing plant and every tree whose fruit bears seed, "for food."
Key words
- hi.Neh ("here!", H2009) — interjection introducing the declaration.
- na.Ta.ti ("I give", H5414) — perfect, first person: "I give / I have given."
- 'E.sev ("plant", H6212) — the herbaceous plant.
- zo.Re.a' ("[which] bears seed", H2232) — participle, occurring twice.
- 'okh.Lah ("food", H0402) — the destination of the gift.
What the text says
After the narrative formula "and God said," the interjection hi.Neh ("here!", H2009) introduces a first person declaration: na.Ta.ti ("I give", H5414) is a perfect — completed action — whose subject is "I," with a plural beneficiary: "to you." The gift unfolds in two objects. First: every 'E.sev ("plant", H6212) qualified by the participle zo.Re.a' ("[which] bears seed", H2232) with its object Ze.ra' ("seed", H2233), located on the pe.Nei ("[the] surface of", H6440) of all the 'A.retz ("earth", H0776). Second: every 'Etz ("tree", H6086) in which there is fe.ri- ("[is the] fruit of", H6529) of a tree bearing seed — the participle and the noun repeat.
The final clause states the outcome with the imperfect yih.Yeh (" will be[long]", H1961) — ongoing or future action —: "for you it will be" le. ("to", H9005) 'okh.Lah ("food", H0402).
Differences between versions
The Vulgate adds to the tree the specification "sementem generis sui" ("seed of its own kind"), with no counterpart in the Hebrew provided, and turns the final clause into a purpose clause: "ut sint vobis in escam" ("so that they may be food for you"), where the Hebrew and the LXX (ἔσται) have an indicative future: "it will be for food." The LXX renders 'E.sev with χόρτον ("grass/herb"), as the RV1909 does with "hierba"; the BSB uses "seed-bearing plant."
This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.