Scapegoat. Scapegoat - meaning

0 The ancient Jews served as the founder of a huge number of catchphrases, but our citizens, due to their illiteracy and laziness, do not understand these curious proverbs at all. Our resource site will help you in this matter, because we have a separate category where you will find transcripts and brief characteristics of many phraseological units. Add this educational site to your bookmarks, because there will be a lot of useful information here. Today we will touch upon a rather funny expression, this is Goat absolution, you can read the meaning a little lower.
However, before continuing, I would like to recommend you some interesting news on the topic of proverbs and sayings. For example, what does Hare Soul mean? how to understand Barely a soul in a body; which means The game is not worth the candle; meaning of the expression Like water off a duck's back, etc.
So let's continue What does Scapegoat mean??

Scapegoat- this word denotes a person who has been blamed for all the failures, problems that have arisen, and failures, while he may not be involved in this at all

Quite an interesting phrase that is understandable to most adults. However, this is an abbreviation, and the full version reads like this - " scapegoat".

In ancient Judea there was a rather interesting custom, which involved getting rid of all your sins with the help of a poor goat. This tradition apparently arose long before the advent of Christianity, and is associated with rituals that involved animal sacrifice. As a rule, during this “procedure” living beings were killed in the name of some god, in order to beg him for certain benefits.

Although it should be noted that with this very scapegoat the situation was somewhat different. In those distant times, Jews gathered every year to absolve themselves of all their sins. This action took place like this: two goats were brought to the appointed place, one of them was killed, and the second was released. And since there was only desert around, it was natural that he would run away there. Before the animal was released, hands were “laid on it.” The point was that everyone present touched the skin goat, thus transferring some of their sins and problems. At the same time, there was no trace of repentance or confession. It turns out that any Jew could kill and rape all year long, and then simply “lay on hands” and everything would be normal. How simple and clear everything is, an excellent custom.

Much later, the Jews “transported” this procedure from the Jewish faith to the Christian faith; apparently they really fell in love with the idea of ​​getting rid of all sins with a simple touch. Subsequently Christian priests made great money from absolution, and the popes and their associates also actively sold indulgences. According to indirect information, the Catholic Church has earned a lot of money in this difficult field.

Many researchers are inclined to think that before Christianity, in pagan beliefs, such obscenity was unknown, and probably unheard of. Only one people, the Jews, decided to put the service of God on a commercial basis, and were very successful in doing so.
It doesn’t matter what you did during your life, and what a scoundrel you were, just pay money to the church, and it will forgive all your sins, and you will go to the other world pure and innocent, like a lamb.

As for the goat, he carried all sins into the desert completely free of charge, and did not require any additional effort for this, hence Scapegoat.

True, what was actually done with the goat, versions differ, according to one well-known one, he was driven out into the desert, and according to another, he was thrown from a rock sacred to every Jew called Azazael. The second version seems more realistic to me, because in this case, one could taste sweet goat meat. Be that as it may, in both cases, sins were forgiven, and the Jews were happy.

After reading this short article, you learned Scapegoat meaning

Many people must be wondering about the origin of the expression “scapegoat”. This term comes from the Book of Leviticus.

“And Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the living goat, and shall confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, and all their sins, and shall lay them on the head of the goat, and shall send them away with a special man into the wilderness. And the goat will bear all their iniquities into the impassable land, and he will let the goat go into the wilderness” (Lev. 16:21-22).

That is, literally “scapegoat” means a goat “released into the wilderness.”

The rite of sending away the goat was necessary because the people of Israel could not continue to communicate with the Most High until the sins and crimes that separated them from Him were “cast out.” Unlike sacrifices, which symbolized the atonement for the sins of individuals, the purpose of the expulsion of the goat was to symbolically transfer the sins of the entire people of Israel and “absolve” them from where they originated - in the desert, which in the Holy Scriptures was considered a refuge of demons.

This order, described in the Book of Leviticus for the people of Israel, is reflected in our daily life - I mean the use of scapegoats. When we act unrighteously, we cannot always bear the weight of guilt for our actions.

This is where we resort to scapegoats. By placing our sins on someone or something, shifting responsibility from ourselves, we hope to free ourselves from unbearable burdens.

How does this happen? Remember how we often ask for forgiveness: “Sorry for taking it out on you - I’ve been under such pressure lately” or “Sorry for being late - the children were barely crawling in the morning.”

It’s so rare to hear “I’m sorry for taking it out on you, I have no excuse,” or something like that. We “accept” the blame and immediately, “in one breath,” shift it. External circumstances (stress, stress) and other people (for example, children) become our scapegoats. We easily explain our bad actions by our own psychological state (depression, malaise, etc.), instead of admitting to ourselves that in fact these are only conditions that may predispose us to certain behavior.

For example, the constant pain I experience due to illness is not an excuse for my . My pain may make me angry, but nothing on its own can make me angry. There is a temptation to behave in a certain way due to certain external conditions, but I myself am responsible for my actions.

That's the problem. B O Most of the time we fail to bear the burden of this responsibility. We need a scapegoat, and one way or another we often find one, at least for a while. Over time, when we do injustice again and again, we need new scapegoats to again shift responsibility for our deeds.

Like other unrighteous tendencies in the human soul, scapegoating is a natural instinct that is used to achieve unnatural ends. The truth is that we find ourselves unable to bear the weight of our bad deeds, but without realizing this, we destroy ourselves. If there is no one to shift the blame to, it begins to poison us.

We need scapegoats, but these cannot be other people (friends, family, colleagues) or circumstances - they help only for a while, and this inevitably separates us from ourselves and the world around us, leading to alienation, isolation and spiritual death.

Who or what could be the scapegoat in this case? According to the Orthodox interpretation of the Old Testament, Leviticus' instructions are not merely a social, psychological, or even religious method of dealing with sin. Rather, they represent a type of the self-sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Christ himself is the atoning lamb who " With His body He bore our sins on the cross" (1 Pet. 2:24) in the wilderness " outside the city walls"(Heb. 13:13).

As a man, Jesus can understand human weakness and accept the burdens we place on Him. As God, He forgives the sins we confess to Him. With Christ, we don't just "throw our trash into someone else's yard," but we send it into oblivion.

And in this understanding, the Lord is not just God to whom we entrust our life and will so that He satisfies our emotional, spiritual and material needs. We can transfer our sins to Him in the same way! And when we are faced with conditions that encourage us to act unrighteously, then we can say: “I don’t want to bear this burden, I want You to carry it, I shift it to You.” It is impossible to comprehend how our incredibly loving Lord gives us this opportunity, but it really is so. There is no need to try to understand this. All we need to do is accept it.

The image of a mythical scapegoat has long become a phraseological unit - a catchphrase that has partially lost its original meaning. Briefly, this idiom denotes a person (society, group of people), who, for some reason, was assigned responsibility and blame for the actions of others, hiding the real culprit and the true reasons for what happened. Why a goat? Where did this expression come from and what does it mean?

Ritual of purification in Judaism

The history of the origin of the scapegoat phraseology originates in Judaism. Chapter 16 of the book Leviticus of the Old Testament contains instructions for the rite of cleansing from sins for the people of Israel and their priesthood. In accordance with Divine revelation, every year, on the 10th day of the seventh month, Jews celebrate a holiday called the Day of Judgment or the Day of Atonement for Sins (Yom Kippur). Every Jew on this day must put aside all his earthly concerns and deal exclusively with one thing - analysis of his life and the bad deeds and thoughts committed in it. On this holiday, four sacrificial animals were brought to the temple courtyard, which played an important role in the self-purification procedure. These were young lambs and a bull, as well as two similar-colored goats of the same age. The priest cast lots, which fell on one of them - he was taken aside.

The three remaining animals were sacrificed. The tabernacle was consecrated with sacrificial blood, and the carcasses were burned in the courtyard of the temple. The surviving goat was destined for a much more unenviable fate. He was brought to the high priest, who, laying both hands on his unfortunate head, performed the ritual of confessing the sins of the entire Israeli people. It was believed that the Israelites became pure before God, and all their guilt was transferred to an innocent goat. Easy and free indulgence! Then a specially appointed person (special person) took the “receptacle of sins” by the rope and took it into the lifeless and waterless desert, where the animal was doomed to a painful death of starvation.

There is another version, according to which he was spared from long torment and simply thrown from the Azazel cliff, which was notorious for the abode of Satan.

A sacrifice to God or a gift to the Devil?

The peoples neighboring Israel, who did not understand the ritual subtleties of the Jewish religion, considered the scapegoat (full name) a sacrifice to the Devil. This erroneous opinion gave rise to some religious disagreements. Sometimes the place of the goat among the early Jews was taken by a bright red cow (the personification of greed and love of money, the golden calf), which was also declared to be the repository of vices and all bad deeds and thoughts and taken out of the city to die.

It is also interesting that the Jewish people wanted to know whether the Lord accepted their sacrifice and absolved them of their sinful deeds. To do this, a red rag or a tuft of blood-stained wool was tied to the horns of a goat or cow, which was tied to the gate with the other end and then cut. The animal took part of it with it, and part remained at the gate. It was believed that at the hour of the victim’s death and the onset of national deliverance, the red matter (wool) should turn white.

Rethinking Ritual

Modern Jews still celebrate Yom Kippur, moving the action after the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple into the synagogues, but the ritual with the scapegoat has undergone inevitable interpretation. Prayer took the place of ritual sacrifice with animals. However, some Islamic peoples who revere the Old Testament Law, in addition to prayer, still perform the ritual of purification, although no longer burdening the scapegoat with their own actions. They go to a special place, a valley, where, according to their beliefs, Satan lives, and stone him, invisible.

Redemptive sacrifice in Christianity

While preserving the very idea of ​​atoning sacrifice, Christianity interprets its image differently. Instead of a powerless and unconscious goat, who is loaded with sins against his own will, stands the immaculately conceived God-man, Jesus Christ, who already voluntarily makes self-sacrifice and takes upon himself redemptive guilt for all of humanity, including its original sin. It is voluntariness that becomes the main distinguishing feature of this atoning sacrifice. And if the Devil is credited with some goat-like characteristics (horns, tail, hooves and even an external resemblance of face), then the scriptures call Jesus Christ the Lamb of God, since a young lamb, unlike a goat, was considered a clean animal and was sacrificed in the temple throughout the Old Testament .

What does the expression “scapegoat” mean in our time?

This phraseological unit is usually used in relation to a person who is either once or constantly accused and punished for the actions of others. This is a special role in the team, an unenviable niche, once in which it can be extremely difficult for a person to get out of it. Often the distribution of roles occurs at school. The reason that one person becomes a “lightning rod” for the negative emotions of others can be several - low self-esteem, disrespect for other people, inability to stand up for oneself, high resentment, which perfectly fuels the emotional shortcomings of colleagues or classmates.

Scapegoat A person who is blamed on another, forced to answer for someone else's mistakes or actions. With noun with value persons: worker, engineer, person, duty officer... scapegoat; to be, become, be... a scapegoat; look for, find... a scapegoat.

But at the same time, the consciousness flashed through him that he was a scapegoat not only for his sins. (D. Mamin-Sibiryak.)

Don't you want to make me, as they say, a scapegoat and put all the blame on me? (N. Uspensky.)

(?) From old glory. language Goes back to the biblical description of the ancient Hebrew transfer of the sins of the people (community) to a goat. The priest laid his hands on the goat as a sign that all the sins of the community were transferred to him. After this, the goat was driven out into the desert.

Educational phraseological dictionary. - M.: AST. E. A. Bystrova, A. P. Okuneva, N. M. Shansky. 1997 .

Synonyms:

See what a “scapegoat” is in other dictionaries:

Scapegoat- "Scapegoat." Painting by William Holman Hunt, 1854 ... Wikipedia

Scapegoat- GOAT, evil, m. Ozhegov’s Explanatory Dictionary. S.I. Ozhegov, N.Yu. Shvedova. 1949 1992 … Ozhegov's Explanatory Dictionary

SCAPEGOAT- who is responsible for someone else’s guilt, for the mistakes of others. The implication is that the true culprit cannot be found or that whoever is l. wants to avoid responsibility for his misdeeds. This means that a person or group united by common interests and... ... Phraseological Dictionary of the Russian Language

Scapegoat- (in ancient Jewish ritual practice, a goat is an animal onto which, on the Day of Atonement, people transferred their accumulated sins and then, cleansed, satisfied with themselves and ready to continue to sin in the future, they sent it into the forest to die) - 1. random, ... ... Encyclopedic Dictionary of Psychology and Pedagogy

Scapegoat- Iron. A person who is forced to answer for the guilt of others, on whom someone else’s guilt is blamed. The whole thing was completely ruined by Menshikov, he, Gorchakov, is nothing more than a scapegoat and asks to be relieved of responsibility to Russia for... ... Phraseological Dictionary of the Russian Literary Language

Scapegoat- 1. Unlock often unapproved About a person who is blamed on someone else, responsible for other people’s mistakes. BMS 1998, 273; ZS 1996, 106, 306; FSRY, 200; Yanin 2003, 143; Mokienko 1989, 117 118. 2. Jarg. school Diary. (Recorded 2003) ... Large dictionary of Russian sayings

scapegoat- About a person on whom someone else’s guilt is constantly being blamed, responsibility for someone else’s offense (among the ancient Jews, the sins of the entire people were assigned to this animal in a special ritual) ... Dictionary of many expressions

Scapegoat (painting)- ... Wikipedia

GOAT- GOAT, evil, husband. 1. Ruminant artiodactyl animal of the family. bovids with long hair. Wild k. Mountain k. Vintorogy k. 2. Male domestic goat. It’s like milk from a goat (no use, no use; colloquial ind.). Let the goat into the garden (last: ... ... Ozhegov's Explanatory Dictionary

Goat- The request “Goat” is redirected here; see also other meanings. The query "Goats" redirects here; see also other meanings. Wiktionary has an article “... Wikipedia

Books

• The Enchantress from the Back Desk, Tamara Shamilyevna Kryukova. Vasya is a would-be inventor, an eternal scapegoat. Julia is a would-be sorceress, a complete misunderstanding. He lives in an ordinary city and studies in the sixth grade of an ordinary school. She lives in... Buy for 403 RUR
• The Enchantress from the Back Desk, Tamara Shamilyevna Kryukova. Vasya is a would-be inventor, an eternal scapegoat. Julya is a would-be sorceress, a complete misunderstanding. He lives in an ordinary city and studies in the sixth grade of an ordinary school. She lives in…

He cast lots and, at his choice, the first of the goats was sacrificed along with the calf (for the sins of the priest and the people), their blood was consecrated to the tabernacle, and the carcasses were later taken out and burned outside the camp.

The high priest symbolically placed the sins of the entire Jewish people on the second goat and he was taken into the desert. Hence the “scapegoat”.

According to another version, the goat was taken to, where it was thrown from a cliff called Azazel (or Muntar) into the abyss.

Sending the goat into the desert symbolizes cleansing from all sins and the destruction of the consequences of all bad deeds as a result of complete repentance and the desire to get closer to the Almighty.

Torah. Viakra. Akharey Mot. Chapter 16

"5. And from the community of the children of Israel he will take two goats for a sacrifice of atonement and one ram for a burnt offering. 6. And Aaron will bring the bullock of the atonement that belongs to him, and will make atonement for himself and for his house. 7 And he will take two goats and set them before the Lord at the door of the tent of meeting. 8. And Aaron will cast lots on both goats: one lot for “the Lord,” and one lot for “Azazel.” 9. And Aaron will deliver the goat on which the lot fell for the “Lord,” and appoint it as a purification sacrifice. 10. And the goat on which the lot fell to “Azazel” will be brought alive before the Lord, so that atonement can be made on it and sent to Azazel in the desert. 11. And Aaron shall bring the bullock of the sacrifice that belongs to him, and make atonement for himself and for his house, and kill the bullock of the sacrifice that belongs to him. 12. And he will take a coal full of burning coals from the altar before the Lord, and handfuls full of fine incense, and bring them within the veil. 13. And he shall put incense on the fire before the Lord, and cover the cloud of incense with the covering that is on the testimony, and he shall not die. 14. And he will take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger towards the east (facing side) of the covering, and before the covering he will sprinkle the blood seven times with his finger. 15. And he will slaughter the goat of the atonement, which belongs to the people, and bring its blood inside the veil, and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it on the covering and before the covering. 16. And he will redeem the Sanctuary from the uncleanness of the children of Israel and from their transgressions, including all their sins (unintentional); and he will do the same for the tent of the cathedral of Him who dwells with them (even) in the midst of their uncleanness. 17 And there shall be no one in the tent of meeting when he enters to atone in the Holy Place until he goes out; and he will make atonement for himself, and for his house, and for all the congregation of Israel. 18. And he will go out to the altar that is before the Lord, and make atonement for it, and take from the blood of the bull and from the blood of the goat, and put it on the horns of the altar around. 19 And he will sprinkle the blood on it with his finger seven times, and will cleanse it and sanctify it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel. 20. And he will complete the redemption of the Sanctuary, and the Tent of Meeting, and the Altar, and will bring forth the live goat. 21. And Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the living goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel and all their crimes, including all their sins (unintentional), and lay them on the head of the goat, and send him away with a special man. into the desert. 22. And the goat will carry on himself all their faults to the ground, (sheer) cut, and will send the goat into the desert. 23 And Aaron will enter the tent of meeting and take off the linen garments that he put on when he entered the Holy Place and leave them there. 24. And he will wash his body with water in the holy place, and put on his garments, and go out, and he will make his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people, and will make atonement for himself and for the people. 25. And the fat of the atonement sacrifice will be burned on the altar. 26. And he who sends the goat to Azazel will wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and then enter the camp. 27. And the bulls of the purification sacrifice, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the Sanctuary, will be carried outside the camp, and their skin, and their flesh, and their dung will be burned in the fire. 28. And the one who burns them will wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and then he will enter the camp...”