Where Does the Word ‘Scapegoat’ Come From?

Today, a “scapegoat” is someone unfairly blamed for the mistakes or wrongdoing of others, a meaning that seems to have little to do with goats. But the word’s origins are quite literal, tracing back to an ancient Jewish atonement ritual.

The meaning of scapegoat has its roots in the biblical book of Leviticus, traditionally attributed to Moses. Leviticus 16 describes an ancient atonement ritual associated with Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, in which Moses’ brother Aaron is instructed to use two goats to atone for the sins of the Israelites.

In the ceremony, the priest "cast lots" on two goats, one for God and one for Azazel. The first goat was killed as an offering to God and its blood used to purify the sanctuary. The second goat was symbolically burdened with the sins of the community and sent into the wilderness, carrying those sins away. According to later rabbinic sources, including the Mishnah, a compilation of Jewish law and tradition, the second goat was pushed over a cliff.

"Scapegoat" emerged from this story some two millennia later. While translating the Hebrew Bible into English in 1530, linguist William Tyndale encountered the enigmatic Hebrew term Azazel, which has been variously interpreted as referring to a place, a demon or the name of a sacrificial cliff. Tyndale interpreted it as 'ez ozel, roughly meaning “goat that departs" or "escape goat," which was eventually shortened to “scapegoat.”

By the early 1800s, "scapegoat" meant what it means now: someone blamed for sins that aren't theirs, no goat required.

More than a century later, scapegoating became a subject of study in the social sciences. In the 1940s, social psychologists developed Scapegoat Theory as a way to understand the psychological roots of prejudice and discrimination.

Sociologists generally recognize four forms of scapegoating: one person blaming another, one person blaming a group, a group blaming one person or a group blaming another group. The last of these has been used to explain intergroup conflict, particularly when a marginalized group is blamed for the problems of another group.