If Adam and Eve existed, were they vegetarians? ~

Some say that God gave permission to eat meat after the flood. But there were a lot of shepherds in the Bible, and to me, shepherds = meat eaters. Was everyone before Noah vegetarian? And if so, were they strict vegans?

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nonsensiclesnail · F

They were vegetarians. Shepards, sheep and lambs are kind of a big deal in the Bible. It’s not about meat.

RedBaron · M

@nonsensiclesnail Then why were they sacrificed in the temple and eaten before the rise of Jewish synagogue worship?

nonsensiclesnail · F

@RedBaron its not about the meat in reference to the question you are asking.

There are no answers to this one way or another, but the likelyhood is that they were vegetarians.
I do feel that it was not a well accepted practice, eating animals, because of this. After the flood God told Noah, "The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every bird of the heavens, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea. Into your hand they are delivered. Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything. But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood."

This tells me a few things, but Ill try to stick to what you are asking.
The animals were not fearful of man before the time of the flood, is what this tells me.
Would not be much of a fair fight to take the life of something that thinks its your friend.
I find it interesting that they were given a fear of man by God at the same time that he gives them permission to eat meat, he makes meat eating lawful if you will.
So was it done? Probably. Were people supposed to be eating the animals? No

It is possible that scarifies were eaten, but outside of sacrifice, the eating of flesh was not a thing. Eating meat was not necessary in that time. Notice, if you actually read the Bible, that there was no mention of taking animals for food onto the ark. But there is mention of taking animals that are clean, the ones often used in sacrifice, in groups of 7 rather than 2. No sacrifices were made again until the ark had been opened and everything got out.

If this is something you truly want to know about I suggest using the internet to find answers.

https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/when-eating-meat-was-a-sacrifice/

https://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/questions/38679/in-genesis-820-why-did-noah-offer-sacrifices-after-the-flood