Scapegoat

The scapegoat is one of the two goats brought before Yahweh on the Day of Atonement. By lot one is offered as a sin-offering and the other, the live goat, has the iniquities of Israel confessed over it before being sent away into the wilderness. The rite forms the climax of Leviticus 16's atonement statute and the imagery of laid-on iniquity is taken up later in Isaiah's portrait of the suffering servant.

The Two Goats and the Lot

The two goats are first set before Yahweh at the entrance of the tent: "And he will take the two goats, and set them before Yahweh at the door of the tent of meeting" (Le 16:7). The lot then divides their roles: "And Aaron will cast lots on the two goats; one lot for [the name of the Speech of] Yahweh, and the other lot for Azazel" (Le 16:8).

The goat assigned to Yahweh is offered as a sin-offering: "And Aaron will present the goat on which the lot fell for [the name of the Speech of] Yahweh, and offer him for a sin-offering" (Le 16:9). The other goat is held back alive for a different function: "But the goat, on which the lot fell for Azazel, will be set alive before Yahweh, to make atonement for him, to send him away for Azazel into the wilderness" (Le 16:10).

The Confession and the Sending Away

After atoning for the holy place, the tent of meeting, and the altar, Aaron turns to the live goat: "And when he has made an end of atoning for the holy place, and the tent of meeting, and the altar, he will present the live goat" (Le 16:20). The transfer of guilt is enacted by hands and confession: "and Aaron will lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the sons of Israel, and all their transgressions, even all their sins; and he will put them on the head of the goat, and will send him away by the hand of a man who is in readiness into the wilderness" (Le 16:21). The goat carries them away beyond the camp: "and the goat will bear on him all their iniquities to a solitary land: and he will let the goat go into the wilderness" (Le 16:22).

After the Rite

Aaron then removes the linen garments, washes, dresses again, and offers the burnt-offerings: "And Aaron will come into the tent of meeting, and will put off the linen garments, which he put on when he went into the holy place, and will leave them there: and he will bathe his flesh in water in a holy place, and put on his garments, and come forth, and offer his burnt-offering and the burnt-offering of the people, and make atonement for himself and for the people" (Le 16:23-24). The fat of the sin-offering is burned on the altar (Le 16:25). The man who led the goat out must purify himself before re-entering the camp: "And he who lets the goat go for Azazel will wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he will come into the camp" (Le 16:26).

The bodies of the bull and goat whose blood was brought in for atonement are taken outside the camp and burned (Le 16:27), and the one who burns them must likewise wash and bathe before returning (Le 16:28).

The Annual Statute

The chapter closes by binding the rite as a perpetual ordinance for the tenth day of the seventh month: "And it will be a statute forever to you⁺: in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you⁺ will afflict your⁺ souls, and will do no manner of work, the home-born, or the stranger who sojourns among you⁺" (Le 16:29). The day's purpose is plain: "for on this day atonement will be made for you⁺, to cleanse you⁺; from all your⁺ sins you⁺ will be clean before Yahweh" (Le 16:30). It is a Sabbath of solemn rest with self-affliction (Le 16:31).

The acting priest, the one anointed and consecrated in his father's stead, makes atonement in the linen garments for the sanctuary, the tent, the altar, the priests, and all the assembly (Le 16:32-33). The closing summary fixes the rite once for all: "And this will be an everlasting statute to you⁺, to make atonement for the sons of Israel because of all their sins once in the year. And he did as Yahweh commanded Moses" (Le 16:34).

Iniquity Laid On

The image of iniquity laid on a single bearer recurs in Isaiah's servant song, where the same vocabulary of straying sheep and laid-on guilt is taken up: "All of us like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and Yahweh has laid on him the iniquity of us all" (Isa 53:6). The mechanism of the live goat — confession over the head, transfer of guilt, removal away from the people — supplies the structural picture that this verse takes for granted.