Commentary for Genesis 1:29
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׃
And God said: ‘Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed—to you it shall be for food;
Rashi on Genesis
ולכל חית הארץ AND TO EVERY BEAST OF THE EARTH — Scripture places cattle and beasts on a level with them (human beings: that is, it places all alike in the same category) with regard to food, and did not permit Adam to kill any creature and eat its flesh, but all alike were to eat herbs. But when the era of the “Sons of Noah” began He permitted them to eat meat, for it is said, (Genesis 9:3) “every moving thing that lives should be for food for yourselves … “even as the herb” that I permitted to the first man, so do “I give to you everything” (Sanhedrin 59b).
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Rashbam on Genesis
הנה נתתי לכם, “I am now giving you.” This is an example of a past construction really meaning the present tense. We find examples of this in Genesis 14,22 when Avraham says הרימותי ידי, literally “I have raised my hand,” but meaning: “I am raising my hand, swearing an oath.. We find another example of this in Genesis 23,13 where Avraham refers to the payment to Efron for the cave of Machpelah, saying נתתי כסף השדה, literally “I have given the money for the field.” This could not be a past tense, as he had not known the price charged until this very moment.
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Sforno on Genesis
הנה נתתי לכם, as food to be consumed by man.
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