Animals in the Kingdom of God:
“Listen,
|to me| |my| children |today|! In the days of our father Adam, the LORD came
down onto the earth |on account of Adam|. And he inspected all his creatures
which he himself had created in the beginning of the thousand ages and when
after all those he had created Adam. And the LORD summoned all the
animals of the earth and all the reptiles of the earth and all the birds that
fly in the air, and he brought them all before the face of our father Adam, so
that he might pronounce names for all the quadrupeds; and |Adam| named
everything that lives on the earth. And the LORD appointed him over everything
‹|as king|›, and he subjected everything to him in subservience under his hand,
both the dumb and the deaf, to be commanded and for submission and for every
servitude. So also to every human being. The LORD created mankind to be the
lord of all his possessions. And the LORD will not judge a single animal soul
for the sake of man; but human souls he will judge for the sake of the souls of
their animals. In the great age there is a special place for human beings.
6 And just as every human soul is according to number, so also it is with
animal souls. And not a single soul which the LORD has created will perish
until the great judgment. And every kind of animal soul will accuse the human
beings who have fed them badly. (2 Enoch 58:1-6 [OTP 1:184])
Accountability for Animals:
“He
who acts lawlessly with the soul of an animal acts lawlessly with his own soul.
For a person brings one of the clean animals to make a sacrifice on account of
sin, so that he may have healing for his soul. If he brings it to the sacrifice
from clean animals and birds ‹and cereals›, then there is healing for that
person, and he will heal his soul. Everything that has been given to you for
food, bind by four legs, so as to perform the healing properly. And there is
healing and he will heal his soul. |And| he who puts to death any kind of
animal without bonds, ‹|puts his own soul to death|› and acts lawlessly with
his own flesh. |And| he who does any kind of harm whatsoever to any kind of
animal in secret, it is an evil custom, and he acts lawlessly with his own
soul. (2 Enoch 59:1-5 [OTP 1:184]; the translator, F. I. Andersen notes that
"It is not clear whether this slaughter is dietary, cultic, or magical.
The rule for tying the beast, and the idea of “healing” (rather than say
“forgiveness”—an idea not found in 2En) suggests magic")