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The history of “scapegoat” is based on a linguistic misunderstanding. On Yom Kippur, the ancient Hebrews would sacrifice one goat for the Lord and lead another one into the wilderness bearing the sins of the people. The ceremony is described in Leviticus, where it is said that one lot shall be cast for the Lord and one for “Azazel.” Modern scholars usually interpret “Azazel” as being the name of a demon living in the desert. But ancient biblical translators thought “Azazel” referred to the goat itself, apparently confusing it with the Hebrew phrase
“‘ēz ’ōzēl,” meaning “goat that departs.” The mistranslation was carried through Greek and Latin into a 16th-century English translation, where the goat was rendered as “scapegoat”; that is, “goat that escapes.”
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