scapegoat

The name given to the goat which was taken away into the wilderness on the day of Atonement:

And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the Lord, and the other lot for the scapegoat. And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the Lord 's lot fell, and offer him for a sin offering. But 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.

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."

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The Standard/Revised Version speaks of the "lot (goat) for Azazel."

References

Sources

  • Easton, M.G. (1897). Easton's Bible Dictionary. New York: Harper & Brothers.
  • Lev. 16:8-22 (KJV).