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b. Sanhedrin 44b: Mishnah:1 Whence do we know that his confession brought him atonement? Because it says (Joshua 7:25) “And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us? The Lord shall trouble thee this day”—This day are you troubled, but you are not troubled in the world to come. And it is written (1 Chronicles 2:6): “And the sons of Zerah; Zimri, and Ethan, and Heman, and Calcol, and Dara: five of them in all.” What is “five of them in all”? —Rabbi Johanan says:2 They are five in all for the world to come.3 It is written “Zimri” and it is written “Achan.”4 Rav and Samuel— One says: Achan is his name. And why was his name called Zimri?—Because he did an act of Zimri.5 And one says: Zimri is his name. And why was his name called Achan?—Because he brought upon them [‘ikken]6 the sins of Israel.7 The dispute between Rav and Samuel8 recalls the following proem in Leviticus Rabbah 9:1:9 “Whoso offereth thanksgiving glorifieth me” (Psalm 50:23). R’Huna in the name of R’Ah·a says: “Whoso offereth a sin-offering,” “Whoso offereth a guilt-offering” is not written here, but rather “Whoso offereth thanksgiving glorifieth me.” R’ Judan says in the name of R’ Abba bar Kahana: “yndbky” is not written here, but rather “ynndbky.” He glorifieth me in this world and he glorifieth me in the world to come. Another explanation: ynndbky glorification after glorification. Another explanation: “Glorifieth me”—This is Achan who offered up his inclination like a thanksgiving offering. This is what is written (Joshua 7:19): “My son, give, I pray thee, glory to the Lord God of Israel, and make confession [todah] unto him.” “And he ordereth his way aright” (Psalm, 50:23)—That he showed a way for the penitent. 109 26 : Achan and Zimri This is what is written: “And the sons of Zerah; Zimri, and Ethan, and Heman, and Calcol, and Dara: five of them in all.” “Zimri”—R’ Joshua ben Levi says: That he did the deed of Zimri. R’Ishmael bar Nah·man says: That Israel were pruned [nizdameru] on his account. “Ethan”—This is our father Abraham, even as you say (Psalm 89:1) “Maschil of Ethan the Ezrahite.” “Heman”—This is Moses “who is faithful in all mine house” (Numbers 12:7). “And Calcol”—This is Joseph. “And Dara: five of them in all”—And do we not know that they are five in all?!— Rather, this teaches that even Achan was with them for the world to come.10 “Will I shew the salvation of God” (Psalm 50:23)—“This day” are you troubled, but you are not troubled in the world to come.11 This passage forms part of a composite proem. It consists of several expositions of Psalm 50:23, the last of which12 develops the theme of how “a thanksgiving offering which does not come on account of a sin” is the most desirable form of offering, and therefore culminates with Leviticus 7:12 “If he offer it for a thanksgiving.” It is not clear exactly how our discourse on Achan originally functioned.13 Margulies14 states simply that it was a homily on Joshua 7:25, although it is unlikely that that verse would have merited homilies—especially proems.15 Maybe it originated in connection with Leviticus 7:12, but this is purely speculative .16 A more plausible hypothesis would be that the homily introduced Hosea 14:2, (“O Israel, return unto the Lord thy God”), the Prophetic reading for the Sabbath between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.17 Name-etymologies serve an ornamental function for these homiletical expositions . The exegetical identification between Zimri and Achan was not learned from them. Nor was the spiritual lesson about the effectiveness of confession. Notes 1 The printed editions of the Talmud cite this as a baraita introduced by the formula “Our rabbis taught.” See Rabbinowicz, Dikduke soferim, n. q. 2 See Rabbinowicz, Dikduke soferim, n. #. 3 This midrash appears already in t.Sanhedrin 9:5 (Zuckermandel, 429). 4 Identification of the names in these two verses is far from obvious, but is accepted in a general way by most modern commentators. The Septuagint reads Zambr(e)i in place of both Zimri and Zabdi in the respective passages, as the father of Achan and Achar (1 Chronicles 2...

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