During Yom Kippur, the original tradition was to use two goats in the ritual. One goat, called the Lord’s Goat, was sacrificed, while the other goat, which the priest confessed all the sins of his people, was then set free into the wilderness.
The second was called the Escape Goat, which evolved into Scapegoat.
The term first appeared in the English translation of Tyndale’s Bible
Categories