It is commonly assumed that Adam and Eve were vegetarians. In fact, it wasn’t until after the Great Flood (about 1,600 years after the creation of the world) that G‑d permitted Noah and his children to kill and consume animal life, thereby breaking a long-lasting ban. (Click here for an article explaining the inner meaning of this change and how it applies to us today.)

As we see in Genesis, G‑d prescribed a diet for Adam and Eve that was decidedly vegetarian:

G‑d said, “Behold, I have given you every seed-bearing herb which is upon the surface of the entire earth, and every tree that has seed-bearing fruit; it will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and to all the fowl of the heavens, and to everything that moves upon the earth, in which there is a living spirit, every green herb to eat,” and it was so. (Genesis 1:29–30)

Note that neither meat nor fowl were included in this diet. Vegetation was permitted, and animal life was not.

This idea is spelled out in the Talmud:

Rav Yehudah said in the name of Rav: “Adam was not permitted to eat meat, as the verse reads, ‘It will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth.’ [For you and for the beasts,] but not the beasts for you.” (Talmud, Sanhedrin 59b)

This lasted some 1,600 years, until G‑d saved Noah from the Great Flood and told him:

Every moving thing that lives shall be yours to eat; like the green vegetation, I have given you everything. (Genesis 9:3)

Indeed, the above Talmudic statement concludes:

And when the children of Noah came, G‑d permitted meat, as it says (Genesis 9:3), “Like the green vegetation, I have given you everything.”

All of the above seems to imply that no meat was permitted to Adam and his descendants.

Seven Universal Laws

Such an approach becomes difficult to maintain, however, when we take into account the Seven Universal Laws that were commanded to Adam and his descendants. The Talmud (Sanhedrin 56a) lists these seven laws as follows:

Our rabbis taught that Noah and his sons were given seven commandments:

  • To establish a judicial system
  • Not to blaspheme
  • Not to worship idols
  • Not to engage in forbidden relations
  • Not to murder
  • Not to steal
  • Not to consume a limb from a living animal

Note that the seventh commandment is not to eat the limb of a living animal, implying that the bodies of dead animals are fair game. Although it would appear from the wording of the Talmud that these laws were commanded to Noah and his sons, reading further in the Talmud forces us to conclude that these laws were given to Adam as well:1

What is the source for these laws?

From the verse that reads, “The L‑rd G‑d commanded man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat.”

[This verse is interpreted as follows:]
“[He] commanded” refers to establishing a judicial system;
“the L‑rd” refers to [the prohibition of] blasphemy;
“G‑d” refers to [the prohibition of] idolatry;
“man” refers to [the prohibition of] murder;
“saying” refers to [the prohibition of] forbidden relations;
“of every tree of the garden”—but not from stolen goods;
“you may freely eat”—but not a limb from a living animal.2

This poses a serious problem. If Adam was instructed to be a vegetarian and was prohibited from consuming any kind of meat, why was it necessary to specifically instruct him not to eat a limb from a living animal?

Eat Animals, Don’t Kill Them

There are a number of approaches taken by the commentators in addressing this question. First, let’s take a careful look at Rashi’s comments on G‑d’s instruction to Adam quoted above:

“It will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth”: He equated cattle and the beasts to them [to man] regarding the food [that they were permitted to eat]. He did not permit Adam and his wife to kill a creature and to eat its flesh; only every green herb they were all permitted to eat equally . . .

Rashi seems to be very selective in his wording: Adam must not “kill a creature and [subsequently] eat its flesh.” Consumption of meat itself is not the issue; rather, it is the killing of a living creature that G‑d is concerned with. Were an animal to have died on its own, without human intervention, there would be no problem with Adam and his children consuming that animal.3

This approach is championed by Tosafot, one of the foremost commentators on the Talmud. Commenting on the above-cited passage from the Talmud, Tosafot writes:

“You may freely eat”—but not a limb from a living animal: Although the Talmud later mentions that Adam was not permitted to consume meat, that prohibition was restricted to killing an animal and consuming it. Were the animal to have died on its own, however, it would have been permitted.

According to the approach taken by Rashi and Tosafot, it is easily understood why a commandment against consuming a limb from a living animal was necessary. The prohibition against killing animals to eat them would not naturally include eating a limb from a living animal,4 especially if the limb fell off on its own.5

Six Laws, Not Seven

Maimonides, however, takes a very different approach, and understands that Adam and his descendants were not to eat animal flesh, even carrion. According to his view, G‑d intended on Adam being a vegetarian.

Accordingly, Maimonides presents a novel formulation of the history of the Seven Universal Laws. In his Laws of Kings, chapter 9, he writes:

Six precepts were commanded to Adam:

  • the prohibition against worship of false gods;
  • the prohibition against cursing G‑d;
  • the prohibition against murder;
  • the prohibition against incest and adultery;
  • the prohibition against theft;
  • the command to establish laws and courts of justice.

Even though we have received all of these commands from Moses and, furthermore, they are concepts which the intellect itself tends to accept, it appears from the Torah’s words that Adam was commanded concerning them.

The prohibition against eating flesh from a living animal was added for Noah, as Genesis 9:4 states: “Nevertheless, you may not eat flesh with its life, which is its blood.” Thus, there are seven mitzvot.

Maimonides understands that it was not until Noah’s times, when the ban against meat was lifted, that G‑d had to give guidelines regarding its consumption.

Maimonides was not the first to disagree with the Talmud. In fact, we find this notion in the Midrash as well.

Bereishit Rabbah 16:6 reads:

“And the L‑rd G‑d commanded man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat.”

R. Levi said: “G‑d commanded Adam regarding six commandments.
‘He commanded’ refers to [the prohibition of] idolatry;
‘G‑d’ refers to [the prohibition of] blasphemy;
‘the L‑rd’ refers to establishing a judicial system;
‘man’ refers to [the prohibition of] murder;
‘saying’ refers to [the prohibition of] illicit relations;
‘of every tree of the garden you may freely eat’ refers to [the prohibition of] theft.”

“You may freely eat”—R. Yaakov from the village of Chanin said: “When will it become fit for eating? When it is slaughtered. Here is hinted the prohibition against eating a limb from a living animal.”

Note that Rav Levi does not include “eating the limb of a living creature” in the laws given to Adam, apparently in agreement with Maimonides’ approach that this law was not relevant at the time. Even Rav Yaakov doesn’t spell out this prohibition, and presents it as only a “hint,” since no meat consumption was allowed at that point in time.6

In summary, understanding Adam’s dietary status is dependent upon when the seventh Universal Law was given. If it was given together with the rest of the Universal Laws, we must conclude that Adam was permitted to eat meat but not kill animals. If, however, it was given at a later date, we can assume that Adam was indeed a vegetarian.