Now if, in addition to all of this, we recall another psychological phenomenon in ancient Israel, the normative sense of corporate personality among the people of Israel (and the East in general, as over against the West), we are in a position to understand as fully as is possible the personality of Jeremiah or Ezekiel. (religion-online.org)
One important consequence of this complex of ideas associated with corporate personality appears in the Old Testament's conception of atonement. (religion-online.org)
Not heredity but corporate personality explains Yahweh's far - flung punishments upon even the great - grandchildren of his enemies; it was the whole tribe that sinned in any member's sin and it was the whole tribe that suffered. (religion-online.org)