Translation
And to every lively beast of the earth and every bird of the air and every animal that moves quickly over the ground in which the breath of life lives,
Go to footnote numberI have given green plants for food.”
And it was so.
Go to footnote numberParaphrase
Also, to every active animal and every bird in the air and every animal that moves quickly over the ground, in other words, everything that has life in it, I have given green plants for food.” And everything necessary for this to happen did happen.
Footnotes
1: “breath of life lives”
This is the major Hebrew word for “life;” it also means “soul, inner being, self, appetite and mind,” plus about 20 other concepts. The core concept appears to be that of “breath.” Life is associated with breath because God breathed the breath of life into man and that is how man became a living being. Thus life and breath go together.
2
By saying “and it was so” the text is indicating that God made happen everything that needed to happen in order for it to be so. God planned and made the digestive tracts of humans and animals so we could digest plants and benefit from them (more on this topic in conjunction with the fall of man into sin). He planned for and granted capabilities of reproduction. To say “and it was so” sounds impersonal and does not directly give credit to God for making it happen, however, this is simply the way something was said in that language and culture, it is not intended to be impersonal but assumes His direct involvement.