The Scapegoat Will Carry Away the People's Sins

The Day of Atonement involved two goats selected for different purposes.

One goat was sacrificed as part of the purification rituals. The other remained alive and was brought before the high priest after the sanctuary had been cleansed.

Aaron placed both hands upon the head of the living goat and confessed over it the iniquities and transgressions of the Israelites. The goat was then sent into the wilderness, carrying away the sins symbolically placed upon it. This dramatic ritual illustrated the removal of the people's wrongdoing from the community.

The living goat served as a ritual means of representing the removal of Israel's sins. The high priest's confession over the animal identified the sins of the community, while the goat's departure into the wilderness symbolized their removal. The ritual complemented the sacrificial purification performed with the other goat.

Together, the two goats expressed different aspects of the Day of Atonement: purification from impurity and the removal of wrongdoing. The passage does not explicitly identify the goat with a future Messiah.

Christian interpretation recognizes in the scapegoat an image of the removal of sin accomplished through Jesus Christ. Just as the goat symbolically carried the sins of Israel away from the community, Jesus is described in the New Testament as bearing the sins of others. The imagery is especially meaningful when considered alongside Isaiah 53, where the suffering servant bears the iniquities of many.

Christians understand Jesus as accomplishing what the ritual represented: the removal of sin and the restoration of fellowship with God.

First Peter 2:24 declares that Jesus bore human sins in His body upon the cross. Hebrews 9:28 states that Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. These descriptions closely resemble the language of bearing sin found in Leviticus and Isaiah.

Although the New Testament does not explicitly identify Jesus as the scapegoat of Leviticus 16, the theological correspondence is substantial. Christians therefore understand the scapegoat ritual as a foreshadowing of the removal of sin through Christ's sacrifice.

In Jewish tradition, the scapegoat ritual was an important part of the ancient observance of Yom Kippur. The confession of Israel's sins and the removal of the goat represented the community's need for atonement and purification. Later Jewish tradition developed additional details concerning the goat's removal into the wilderness.

Following the destruction of the Temple, the sacrificial ritual ceased, while the Day of Atonement continued as a solemn occasion for repentance, confession, and seeking forgiveness.

The Hebrew term associated with the scapegoat is Azazel, whose precise meaning is disputed. Interpretations include a designation for the goat that departs, a wilderness location, or a supernatural figure associated with the wilderness. The text clearly describes the goat carrying the sins of the people away, but it does not resolve every question concerning the meaning of Azazel.

The New Testament connections are thematic rather than explicit quotations identifying Jesus with this particular ritual.

Principal New Testament references: 1 Peter 2:24; Hebrews 9:28. Related Old Testament passage: Isaiah 53:4-6.