Brill’s New Pauly

Get access
Search Results: | 18 of 73 |

Scapegoat rituals
(740 words)

[German version]

'SR' take their name from an ancient Israelite ritual sequence described in Lv 16,5-10 and 20-22, in which every year at Yom Kippur a ram was sacrificed to Yahweh and a second, on to which all the guilt of the people of Israel had been transferred, was driven into the wilderness "to take away divine anger"(ăzāzēl: [1. 159-162]). Post-Exile and, later, Jewish Rabbinic tradition explain Azazel as a demon or fallen angel, whereas early Christian theology interprets the ram as an allegory for Christ, who by his death is supposed to hav…

Cite this page
Bendlin, Andreas (Erfurt), “Scapegoat rituals”, in: Brill’s New Pauly, Antiquity volumes edited by: Hubert Cancik and , Helmuth Schneider, English Edition by: Christine F. Salazar, Classical Tradition volumes edited by: Manfred Landfester, English Edition by: Francis G. Gentry. Consulted online on 28 March 2024 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1574-9347_bnp_e1125070>
First published online: 2006
First print edition: 9789004122598, 20110510



▲   Back to top   ▲