Yecs generally agree that the death of any living creature did not happen before the Fall. Though I must ask what verse in particular shows that animal death did not occur? Usually I am given Genesis 3:14 or 21, yet what do the yecs in favor of using those verses have to say in consideration of the significance in the naming of the animals?
If you recall God told Adam to name the animals. This is important because it clues us in to what Adam observed prior to the Fall himself. For example, the Hebrew name for lion is derived from the root that means, in the sense of violence. It is not likely that Adam was referring to the violence with which the lion ate vegetables, since carnivores could not survive off of a sole vegetarian eating habit. The Hebrew name for eagle is to lacerate. "Hawk" in Hebrew means unclean bird of prey, and owl means to wrong, do violence to, treat violently. Why would the owl need to treat a vegetable in such a way just to feed? It is not like the plant could defend itself or put up much of a struggle.
To say that animal death did not occur prior to the Fall seems to therefore contradict the original Hebrew definition for the name of these animals, which must be accounted for by yecs who use those verses to support the notion of no death before the Fall.
If you recall God told Adam to name the animals. This is important because it clues us in to what Adam observed prior to the Fall himself. For example, the Hebrew name for lion is derived from the root that means, in the sense of violence. It is not likely that Adam was referring to the violence with which the lion ate vegetables, since carnivores could not survive off of a sole vegetarian eating habit. The Hebrew name for eagle is to lacerate. "Hawk" in Hebrew means unclean bird of prey, and owl means to wrong, do violence to, treat violently. Why would the owl need to treat a vegetable in such a way just to feed? It is not like the plant could defend itself or put up much of a struggle.
To say that animal death did not occur prior to the Fall seems to therefore contradict the original Hebrew definition for the name of these animals, which must be accounted for by yecs who use those verses to support the notion of no death before the Fall.