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From Marie Antoinette to the cow blamed for the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, history is full of individuals who were unjustly held accountable for massive societal disasters or wrongdoings. These individuals became scapegoats. But why are goats (who are actually pretty amazing animals) unfairly linked to this burden of blame?
The term scapegoat was first introduced by English Protestant scholar William Tyndale in his 1530 English translation of the Pentateuch, as noted in David Dawson’s 2013 book Flesh Becomes Word: A Lexicography of the Scapegoat Or, the History of an Idea. Tyndale, while interpreting Hebrew references to Yom Kippur rituals in the Book of Leviticus, described a ceremony where one of two goats was selected by chance. A high priest would lay his hands on the goat’s head, confess the people’s sins, thus transferring them to the animal, before sending it into the wilderness to carry away Israel’s wrongdoings. The other goat, however, would be sacrificed to the Lord.
Tyndale created the term scapegoat to refer to the sin-bearing animal, translating the Hebrew word azazel or Azazel as ez ozel, meaning 'the goat that departs or escapes.' However, some scholars disagree with his interpretation, suggesting that Azazel may have represented the name of a goat-like wilderness demon, to whom the offering was directed, or a specific location in the desert where sins were banished, often thought to be a cliff from which the scapegoat was thrown and killed.
Over time, the term scapegoat drifted away from its biblical origins and evolved into a metaphor for a person who takes on the blame for others' wrongdoings. Now that you're familiar with its etymology, spare a thought for the poor creatures who inspired this term, and perhaps consider being a bit kinder to the next person who ends up bearing the weight of everyone else’s mistakes.
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