- If items required for an execution are funded משל צבור, or by the condemned
Rav Huna says it is obvious that the various implements of execution (the stone used for סקילה, the beam for hanging the body afterwards, the sword for beheading, and the scarf for strangling), are all funded משל צבור – by the public, דמדידיה לא אמרינן ליה זיל וליתיה וליקטול נפשיה – because we would not tell him, “Go bring the funds with which to have [yourself] killed.” He asked, however, if the kerchief used as a signal to halt the proceedings, or the horse which would race to halt them, are funded by the convict, כיון דהצלה דידיה – since they are for his rescue, or by the public,כיון דבי דינא מחייבין למעבד בה הצלה – since Beis Din is obligated to facilitate rescue. Rav Chisda said that someone being executed is given to drink a grain of frankincense mixed into wine, כדי שתטרף דעתו – to numb his mind and reduce his suffering, as the passuk says: תנו שכר לאובד ויין למרי נפש – give intoxicating drink to one who is lost, and wine to embittered souls. Although the prominent women of Yerushalayim usually donated these, if they did not, it is reasonable that they are publicly funded, since the passuk says to “give” them.
- Confession before execution, and עכן’s confession to Yehoshua
The Mishnah states that when the condemned man approaches the בית הסקילה, they tell him: התודה – “Confess your sins, as is the practice of all those who are executed, וכל המתודה יש לו חלק לעולם הבא – and anyone who confesses has a share in the World to Come.” Yehoshua urged עכן to confess to having transgressed the ban against taking spoils from יריחו, and after he did, Yehoshua indicated that he would receive a share in עולם הבא. If he does not know how to confess, we instruct him to say, “My death should atone for all my sins.” Tannaim dispute if he can specifically exclude this sin if he knows he is innocent. A Baraisa teaches that Yehoshua implored עכן to confess, because Hashem did not identify the sinner, but told him to cast lots. After they fell on Achan, he said to Yehoshua, “You accuse me based on a lottery? If I were to case lots between you and Elazar Hakohen, it would fall on one of you!” Yehoshua said: בבקשה ממך – “I implore you, do not disparage the lots, through which Eretz Yisroel will be divided.” Ravina adds that Yehoshua led Achan to believe he would be exonerated if he would confess.
- For which sins were Jews not responsible for each other until entering Eretz Yisroel
Achan’s words indicate that he confessed to additionally violating two or four earlier bans during Moshe’s days. The Gemara asks, why then was the nation not punished until this point? Rebbe Elazar bar Rebbe Shimon said: לפי שלא ענש על הנסתרות עד שעברו ישראל את הירדן – because [Hashem] did not punish the whole nation for hidden sins of an individual until Yisroel crossed the ירדן.
This is a machlokes Tannaim about the passuk: הנסתרת לה' אלהינו והנגלת לנו ולבנינו עד עולם – the hidden [sins] are for Hashem, our G-d, but the revealed [sins] are for us and our children until forever. In a sefer Torah, there are dots over the words "לנו ולבנינו", and the "ע" of "עד". Rebbe Yehudah explains, as above, that they were not punished communally for unknown sins of individuals until crossing the ירדן. Rebbe Nechemiah objects that the words "עד עולם" imply the nation is never punished for hidden personal sins!? Rather, just as the nation is never punished for hidden personal sins, so too they were not even punished for נגלות – open (known) sins until crossing the ירדן. He must say that Achan’s wife and children knew of his sin, so it was considered "נגלות".