Scapegoat: (Leviticus 16:8-26) R.V., "the goat for Azazel" (q.v.), the name given to the
goat which was taken away into the wilderness on the day of Atonement
(Leviticus 16:20-22) The priest made atonement over the scapegoat, laying
Israel's guilt upon it, and then sent it away, the goat bearing "upon
him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited." At a later
period an evasion or modification of the law of Moses was introduced
by the Jews. "The goat was conducted to a mountain named Tzuk,
situated at a distance of ten Sabbath days' journey, or about six and
a half English miles, from Jerusalem. At this place the Judean desert
was supposed to commence; and the man in whose charge the goat was
sent out, while setting him free, was instructed to push the unhappy
beast down the slope of the mountain side, which was so steep as to
insure the death of the goat, whose bones were broken by the fall.
The reason of this barbarous custom was that on one occasion the
scapegoat returned to Jerusalem after being set free, which was
considered such an evil omen that its recurrence was prevented for
the future by the death of the goat" (Twenty-one Years' Work in the
Holy Land). This mountain is now called el-Muntar.
