Sin Sent Away: Rethinking the Scapegoat of the Day of Atonement

The older I get, the more I realize that so many of the problems with understanding Jesus’s death come from a misunderstanding about sacrifice, and misunderstanding sacrifice ultimately derives from a misunderstanding of what the Book of Leviticus says about sacrifices. So in this post, we are gonna have a look at the Scapegoat in Leviticus 16.

Here’s the first thing you need to know. The only animal that is a substitute for Israel in the prescribed sacrifices is the scapegoat and the scapegoat is the one sacrifice that is not killed!

So what is going on here?

Photo by Torsten Dederichs on Unsplash

Well, Leviticus 16 describes the Day of Atonement, the most important ritual in ancient Israel’s cultic calendar.

At the center of this ceremony are two male goats, which together form a single sin offering for the Israelite nation. After the high priest first makes atonement for himself, he then presents the two goats before the Lord and casts lots over them. One goat is designated “for the Lord” and is sacrificed. The other is designated “for Azazel” and is kept alive until it is taken out into the wilderness and abandoned.

⁶ “Aaron shall offer the bull as a purification offering for himself and shall make atonement for himself and for his house. ⁷ He shall take the two goats and set them before the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting, ⁸ and Aaron shall cast lots on the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other lot for Azazel. ⁹ Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot fell for the Lord and offer it as a purification offering, ¹⁰ but the goat on which the lot fell for Azazel shall be presented alive before the Lord to make atonement over it, that it may be sent away into the wilderness to Azazel.
Leviticus 16:6-10 (NRSVue)