Collective Punishment for Akhan's Sin/2

Collective Punishment for Akhan's Sin

Exegetical Approaches

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Nation Also Culpable

Those who were killed had sinned and were deserving of punishment.

Sources:R. Yosef Bekhor ShorDevarim 29:28About R. Yosef Bekhor Shor, Rif, Hoil MosheYehoshua 7:24About R. Moshe Yitzchak Ashkenazi

How did they sin?

• Spiritual blunder – The people sinned in forgetting Hashem, and thinking that it was their own military power, rather than Hashem, which brought them victory. Akahan
• Military blunder –
• Abetted Akhan – R"Y Bekhor Shor, Rabbi Yaakov Fidanque, and Hoil Moshe maintain that Yehoshua had warned the people beforehand to watch over the spoils and ensure that no one took of them, and to report if anyone had.  The people either did not watch properly, failed to report the offender, or worse, actively helped Akhan to hide the spoils.
• Own sins – The people who died were

Attribution of sin to Israel

Singling out of akhan

Why was Akhan originally spared?

Collective punishment

Collective Punishment

Despite the fact that only Akhan sinned, innocent people were also punished.

Israel is One Body

Sources:Yerushalmi SotahSotah 7:5About the Yerushalmi, R. Yehuda in Bavli SanhedrinSanhedrin 43b-44aAbout the Bavli, Tanchuma51About the Tanchuma, R. BachyaVayikra 26:37About R. Bachya b. Asher, SefornoShemot 23:21About R. Ovadyah Seforno,

Providence removed

RalbagYehoshua 7:1Yehoshua 5-8Yehoshua 7:24Yehoshua 22:18About R. Levi b. Gershom, AbarbanelYehoshua 7:4-5About R. Yitzchak Abarbanel, MalbimDevarim 27:10Yehoshua 7:1Mishlei Beur HaInyan 11:21About R. Meir Leibush Weiser