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On Yom Kippur, the ancient Hebrews would sacrifice one goat for God and lead another one, over whom all the sins of Israel had been confessed, into the wilderness to bear the sins of the people away. The ceremony is described in Leviticus, where it is said that one lot shall be cast for God and one for "Azazel." Modern scholars usually interpret Azazel (ʽazāzēl in Hebrew) as being the name of a demon living in the desert, but ancient biblical translators thought ʽazāzēl referred to the goat itself, apparently confusing the word with the Hebrew phrase ʽēz 'ōzēl, meaning "goat that departs." Thus, in a 16th century English translation, the word for Azazel/the goat was rendered as scapegoote—that is, "goat that escapes." The extended senses of scapegoat we use today evolved from this biblical use.
Examples of scapegoat in a Sentence
Mark Joseph, Newsweek, 22 Feb. 2025
The Old Testament story of the scapegoat—a goat burdened by human sins and exiled into the wilderness in order to purify the community—inspired Hepburn Ferrer’s latest body of work.
—airmail.news, 25 Jan. 2025
Odette Yousef, NPR, 6 Feb. 2025
Originally published by Russian monarchists to scapegoat the Jews for the tsar’s military defeats and the subsequent upheaval, the protocols purported to be minutes from a series of meetings held by Jewish leaders bent on world domination.
—Gregory Fried, Foreign Affairs, 17 Oct. 2014
See All Example Sentences for scapegoat
Cite this Entry
“Scapegoat.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scapegoat. Accessed 3 Mar. 2025.
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