And God said,
Behold, I have given you every plant bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, which has seed in its fruit; to you it shall be for food.
All Commentaries on Genesis 1:29 Go To Genesis 1
Augustine of Hippo
AD 430
I myself hold with those who, considering the words, “Male and female he created them, saying, ‘Increase and multiply and fill the earth,’ ” interpret them as referring to visible and bodily sex. This is clear, in view of what follows: “And God said, ‘Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.’ ” Note that both male and female used the food for the body that the other animals used. They received fitting sustenance from it. This was necessary for the animal body lest it suffer from hunger. But it was received in a certain immortal way and from the tree of life, lest they die of old age. I would never believe that, in a place of such great happiness, either the flesh lusted against the spirit or the spirit against the flesh, and there was no internal peace…. We conclude, therefore, that there was no carnal concupiscence in that place. Such was the manner of life that all necessities were taken care of by the proper functions of the members, without arousing lust. .
