Where Did the Term Scapegoat Originate?
Did You Know the History of the Word 'Scapegoat'? It Was First Coined in the 16Th Century to Describe the Ritual Animals That the Jewish Community Placed Their...
Did you know the history of the word 'scapegoat'? It was first coined in the 16th century to describe the ritual animals that the Jewish community placed their sins onto in preparation for Yom Kippur? Today we use the word 'scapegoat' to describe people who symbolically take on the sins of others.
Is the word scapegoat in the Bible?
Scapegoat, Hebrew saʿir la-ʿAzaʾzel, (“goat for Azazel”), in the Yom Kippur ritual described in the Torah (Leviticus 16:8–10), goat ritually burdened with the sins of the Jewish people.
Who is the scapegoat in Leviticus 16?
The church fathers frequently perceived a typological correspondence between the passion of Christ and the two goats of Leviticus 16: the 'goat to Yahweh' (the immolated goat) and the 'goat to Azazel' (the scapegoat).