“The scapegoat”
After Aaron casts lots for the two goats, one for the LORD and the other for the scapegoat… the goat chosen by lot as the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the LORD… by sending it into the wilderness. (Leviticus 16:8–10 BSB)
What it sounds like today
A curious ritual with two goats and a lottery.
The cultural key
On the Day of Atonement two goats share one purpose. Lots are cast: one goat is slaughtered, its blood carried into the Most Holy Place; the other, the 'scapegoat,' has the nation's sins confessed over its head and is driven alive into the wilderness, carrying guilt away to a desolate place. The Hebrew azazel is genuinely obscure, read as 'the goat that departs,' as a place, or as a demonic name. Together the two goats picture the two sides of atonement: sin paid for by death, and sin carried away out of sight. Tyndale coined 'scapegoat' to translate it.
Recovered meaning
Forgiveness is shown in two motions: one goat dies to pay, the other bears the guilt away until it is gone for good. It is the Bible's picture of sins not merely covered but removed, carried off 'as far as the east is from the west.'