The transferability of sin: punishing
the innocent for the sins of the guilty

Passages in the Hebrew Scriptures
(Old Testament): Genesis to Numbers

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This section discusses a theme that runs through the entire Bible: that is is moral to punish innocent persons for the sins of the guilty. That is, that guilt can be transferred from the person who did the sin to those who had no involvement in the sin. This theme is in violation of the tenets of every religious that we have studied. Yet it is frequently seen in many biblical stories and thus influences Judaism, Christianity, Islam and the Baha'i religions.

The following examples of this theme are taken from the first four books of the Hebrew Scriptures (a.k.a. Old Testament), primarily Genesis, and Exodus.Examples from the book of Deuteronomy through to 1 Chronicles are listed elsewhere.

Adam and Eve's curse:

In the beginning of the book of Genesis:

These events have been referred to as "the fall" of mankind. It was the first human sin. The description in Genesis indicates that the punishment for Adam and Eve's sin was to extend far beyond the original humans. Historical Christianity has taught the concept of imputation: that when Adam and Eve disobeyed God and ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, their sin was imputed or assigned to all humanity for all time. That is, the children of Adam and Eve, their children, and successive generations would all equally bear the sins of their original parents. Many Christians have literally interpreted the creation story in Genesis and have concluded that "the fall" of humanity occurred circa 4004 BCE. It would seem that God's curse is in fact the longest curse in history, having lasted over 6,000 years to date, and affecting Adam and Eve's descendents as far as the 125^th generation. It appears to have no limit, and will continue indefinitely into our descendents' future.

The curse is confirmed in the book of Romans in the Christian Scriptures (a.k.a. New Testament).  Paul wrote: "Wherefore, as by one man [Adam] sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." (KJV) ₁

This is the first instance in the Bible where individuals are punished for the sins of others. It is unique in that every human who ever existed suffers from the curse. Other curses in the Bible affect only certain groups or tribes.

The flood of Noah:

Chapter 6 of Genesis describes the massive genocide of 2348 BCE. If one measures the seriousness of a mass extermination by the percentage of humans killed, this was the greatest genocide in history. Only one man and his immediate family survived -- a total of eight individuals. Every other human died.

"And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them."

"And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth."

During the flood, all of the youths and adults who were responsibility for the wickedness, evil and violence were drowned. Also drowned would be all the children, infants and newborns in the world, all of whom had not reached the age of accountability. Every land animal, and bird perished, except for those which were sheltered in Noah's ark. One might assume that with the massive dilution of the salinity of the oceans and the mixture of bodies of salt water and fresh water, that many species of fish who required fresh water and other species which required a high level of salinity would not have survived either.

The curse of Ham:

In 2347 BCE, an incident occurred which involved Noah and his three sons. Noah had planted a vineyard, and became drunk on the wine. He was laying naked in his tent. One of his sons, Ham, saw his father in this state and told his brothers, Shem and Japeth. The latter sons carefully covered their father with a garment without looking at him. Many theologians have suspected that Ham did more than just look at his father, but may have engaged in some form of forbidden sexual behavior. Genesis 9:24 simply says: "And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him."

Noah laid a horrendous curse. But it was not on his son Ham who had done the unspecified sinful act. Instead of punishing the individual who had injured him, Noah punished that individual's son -- Noah's grandson -- Canaan. There is no indication that Canaan was involved in any way or even knew of the event. Still, he was to be enslaved to Shem and Japheth and their children. Further, Canaan's descendents were to be slaves to the descendents of these two sons of Noah.

Plagues in Egypt:

The first chapters of the book of Exodus describe how the ancient Hebrews were held and mistreated as slaves in Egypt. God selected Moses as the individual who was to free his countrymen and take them to the land of Canaan. To do so, he had to negotiate release of the slaves from the dictator of Egypt, an unidentified pharaoh.

God "hardened Pharaoh's heart" repeatedly so that he would refuse to release the Hebrew slaves. This converted a difficult negotiation for Moses into a near impossibility:

God instructed Moses to have his brother Aaron perform a series of rituals which brought plagues to Egypt: all of the water was turned to blood; there was an infestation of frogs, lice, and flies. All of the Egyptian cattle died. Hail mixed with thunder and fire afflicted the entire country. Locusts infested the land. People broke out in painful boils. There was a three-day period of darkness. Finally, the ultimate punishment came: God was to pass through the entire land of Egypt and kill every first born animal and human. This included "...all the firstborn in the land of Egypt...from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, even unto the firstborn of the maidservant [female slave] that is behind the mill; and all the firstborn of beasts." (Exodus 11:5) Also included was "the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon and all the firstborn of cattle." (Exodus 12:29). ₂ Only the Jewish firstborn were to be saved, and then only if their family performed a specific ritual involving the killing of a lamb and spreading its blood over the doorposts. The firstborn would involve both children and adults. Few families, other than those of the Hebrews, would be spared. At this point, faced with his country's devastation, the Pharaoh relented and allowed the Hebrews to leave the country.

The decision to retain or release the Hebrews was made by the pharaoh alone. Egypt was a dictatorship at the time, and the pharaoh held full political power. Yet he was not killed. His eldest child was allegedly murdered, as were the eldest children of all of the slaves, prisoners, and the general Egyptian public. Even the first born among the animals were killed. Egyptians in poverty must have suffered greatly at the loss of their cow(s) or goat(s) -- animals that made the difference between their owners eking out a marginal existence and starvation. Yet, none of those who died was responsible in any way for the pharaoh's decision to force the Hebrews to remain in the country.

Scapegoat:

"...shall take cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the LORD, and the other lot for the scapegoat....the goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness....And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness: And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness. And this shall be a statute for ever unto you: that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger that sojourneth among you: For on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before the LORD. It shall be a sabbath of rest unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls, by a statute for ever."

The exact mechanism by which the sins of the Children of Israel are transferred onto or into the goat is not defined.

References:

1. Paul, in Romans 5:12
2. From the King James Version of the Bible.