Bible Dictionary
Scapegoat
The scapegoat was the goat sent into the wilderness on the Day of Atonement after Israel’s sins were symbolically placed upon it. It represented the removal of the people’s iniquities from the camp.
Definition
The scapegoat was the goat taken away into the wilderness on the Day of Atonement. The priest laid Israel’s guilt upon it and sent it away, symbolically removing the people’s iniquities from the camp.
Biblical Usage
The scapegoat formed part of the Day of Atonement ritual. Atonement was made over it, and it bore the iniquities of Israel to an uninhabited land.
Historical Background
The Revised Version renders the expression “the goat for Azazel.” A later Jewish practice sent the goat to a steep place in the Judean desert and pushed it down, a modification of the Mosaic procedure.
Scripture References
Historical Bible Dictionaries
Easton's Bible Dictionary
Lev. 16:8-26; R.V., “the goat for Azazel” (q.v.), the name given to the goat which was taken away into the wilderness on the day of Atonement (16:20-22). The priest made atonement over the scapegoat, laying Israel’s guilt upon it, and then sent it away, the goat bearing “upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited.” At a later period an evasion or modification of the law of Moses was introduced by the Jews. “The goat was conducted to a mountain named Tzuk, situated at a distance of ten Sabbath days’ journey, or about six and a half English miles, from Jerusalem. At this place the Judean desert was supposed to commence; and the man in whose charge the goat was sent out, while setting him free, was instructed to push the unhappy beast down the slope of the mountain side, which was so steep as to insure the death of the goat, whose bones were broken by the fall. The reason of this barbarous custom was that on one occasion the scapegoat returned to Jerusalem after being set free, which was considered such an evil omen that its recurrence was prevented for the future by the death of the goat” (Twenty-one Years’ Work in the Holy Land). This mountain is now called el-Muntar.
Smith's Bible Dictionary
[Atonement, The Day Of, Day OF]