Where did the expression "scapegoat" come from? Phraseologism "Scapegoat" meaning Rite of the scapegoat.

"We talked about a well-known saying and the most interesting thing is that this legend appeared from Scripture.

Today I propose to study the phrase "scapegoat". This is the person who collects all the "bumps". Where did it all start?

I suggest you turn to the Bible.

A goat, an animal offered mainly as a sin offering (Lev 4:24; 9:15; 10:16, etc.). Its meat was allowed to be eaten.

24 And he shall lay his hand on the goat's head, and slay it in the place where burnt offerings are slaughtered before the Lord: this is a sin offering;
(Lev.4:24)

15 And he brought an offering from the people, and took from the people a goat for sin, and slaughtered it, and offered it as a sin offering, just like the first one.
(Lev. 9:15)

16 And Moses was looking for the goat of the sin offering, and behold, he was burned. And he was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, the remaining sons of Aaron, and said:
(Lev.10:16), etc.

Sheep and goats often grazed on the same pasture, so there was a constant need to separate the herds.

This circumstance is sometimes played up in comparisons. For example, in Matthew 25:32 and the following verses of the Bible, the goat represents the unrighteous people who will stand at the left hand of the Lord on the Day of Judgment.

33 And he will put the sheep on his right hand, and the goats on his left.
(Mat. 25:33)

In Ezekiel 34:17, the goat is used as a symbol of the wicked and unfaithful leaders of the people.
A special role was assigned to the goat on the great holiday, on the Day of Purification (Redemption).

One goat was offered as a sacrifice for the sin of the people, and the other, having confessed the sins of the whole people over it, was released into the wilderness (Lev. 16:15-22).

17 But you, My sheep, says the Lord God, behold, I will judge between sheep and sheep, between ram and goat.
(Ezek. 34:17)

15 And he shall slaughter the goat as a sin offering for the people, and bring his blood into the veil, and do with his blood what he did with the blood of the calf, and sprinkle it on the lid and before the lid,

(Lev.16:15-22)

In Dan 8:5-14,21,22 the goat symbolizes the Greco-Macedonian empire of Alexander the Great, which, after his death (323 B.C.), in 301 B.C., split into four separate kingdoms. - Egypt, Syria, Thrace and Macedonia, which is shown in the vision of four horns growing from a goat.

5 I looked carefully at this, and behold, from the west a goat came over the face of all the earth, not touching the ground; this goat had a prominent horn between its eyes.
6 He went to that ram that had horns, which I saw standing by the river, and rushed at him in his great fury.
7 And I saw how he drew near to the ram, became furious with him, and smote the ram, and broke both of his horns; and the ram was not strong enough to stand against him, and he threw him to the ground and trampled him, and there was no one who could save the ram from him.
8 Then the goat became exceedingly exalted; but when it became stronger, the great horn broke, and four came out in its place, facing the four winds of heaven.
9 From one of them came out a small horn, which grew exceedingly to the south and to the east and to the beautiful country,
10 And he ascended to the host of heaven, and cast down to the earth part of this host and the stars, and trampled them down,
11 And even he exalted himself against the Captain of this host, and the daily sacrifice was taken away from him, and the place of his sanctuary was mocked.
12 And the army was betrayed, together with the daily sacrifice for wickedness, and he, casting the truth to the ground, acted and succeeded.
13 And I heard a certain saint speaking, and this saint said to someone who asked, “How long does this vision of daily sacrifice and desolation of wickedness extend, when the sanctuary and the host are trampled down?”
14 And he said to me, “For two thousand three hundred evenings and mornings; and then the sanctuary will be cleansed.”
(Dan. 8:5-14)

21 And the shaggy goat is the king of Greece, and the great horn that is between his eyes is her first king;
22 he broke down, and another four came out in his place: these are four kingdoms that will rise from this people, but not with their strength.
(Dan. 8:21,22)

The proverb is "scapegoat"

Today's unpleasant saying "scapegoat" had a real story behind it, moreover, every year for more than a dozen years in the history of the Israeli people, events were repeated.

Here is a passage from the Bible to look at:

A lion. (16:15-22)
15 And he shall slaughter the goat as a sin offering for the people, and bring his blood into the veil, and do with his blood what he did with the bull's blood, and sprinkle it on the lid and before the lid,
16 And he will cleanse the sanctuary from the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and from their transgressions, in all their sins. He must do the same with the tabernacle of meeting that is with them, in the midst of their uncleanness.
17 No man shall be in the tabernacle of meeting when he enters to cleanse the sanctuary, until he goes out. And thus shall he purify himself, his house, and all the congregation of Israel.
18 And he will go out to the altar which is before the Lord, and cleanse it, and take the blood of the calf and the blood of the goat, and put it on the horns of the altar on all sides,
19 And he shall sprinkle on him the blood of his finger seven times, and cleanse him, and sanctify him from the uncleanness of the sons of Israel.
20 And having made atonement for the sanctuary, the tabernacle of meeting, and the altar, he will bring in a live goat,
21 And Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the living goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, and all their sins;
22 And the goat shall bear all their iniquity upon him into an impenetrable land, and he shall let the goat into the wilderness.

Scapegoat A person who is blamed for another, made to answer for someone else's mistakes or actions. From noun. with meaning persons: worker, engineer, person, duty officer ... scapegoat; to be, to become, to be… a scapegoat; seek, find... a scapegoat.

But at the same time, he had a flash of consciousness that he was a scapegoat not for his sins alone. (D. Mamin-Sibiryak.)

Do you want to make me, as they say, a scapegoat and put all the blame on me? (N. Uspensky.)

(?) From st.-glory. lang. It goes back to the biblical description of the Hebrew imposition of the sins of the people (community) on a goat. The clergyman laid hands on the goat as a sign that all the sins of the community were transferred to him. After that, the goat was driven out into the wilderness.

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 ... Explanatory dictionary of Ozhegov

SCAPEGOAT- who is the Responsible for someone else's guilt, for the mistakes of others. It is implied that the true culprit cannot be found, or that whoever. wants to escape responsibility for his misdeeds. It 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 on which, on the Day of Atonement, people shifted their accumulated sins and then, cleansed, satisfied with themselves and ready to sin in the future, sent him to the forest to perish) - 1. random, ... ... Encyclopedic Dictionary of Psychology and Pedagogy

Scapegoat- Iron. A person who is forced to answer for the guilt of others, who is blamed for someone else's guilt. The whole thing was fundamentally spoiled by Menshikov, he, Gorchakov, is nothing more than a scapegoat and asks to be relieved of his responsibility to Russia for ... ... Phraseological dictionary of the Russian literary language

Scapegoat- 1. Razg. often disapproved. About a person who is blamed for someone else's fault, responsibility for someone else's mistakes. BMS 1998, 273; ZS 1996, 106, 306; FSRYA, 200; Yanin 2003, 143; Mokienko 1989, 117 118. 2. Jarg. school Diary. (Recorded 2003) ... Big dictionary of Russian sayings

scapegoat- About a person who is constantly blamed for someone else's guilt, responsibility for someone else's misdeed (among the ancient Jews, the sins of the whole people were laid on this animal in a special rite) ... Dictionary of many expressions

Scapegoat (painting)- ... Wikipedia

GOAT- GOAT, evil, husband. 1. Ruminant artiodactyl animal of the family. bovid with long hair. Wild k. Mountain k. Markhorn k. 2. Male domestic goat. From him as from a goat of milk (there is no use, use; colloquial neod.). Let the goat into the garden (last: ... ... Explanatory dictionary of Ozhegov

Goat- Request "Goat" is redirected here; see also other meanings. "Goats" redirects here; see also other meanings. Wiktionary has the article "...Wikipedia

Books

Enchantress from the back desk, Kryukova Tamara Shamilyevna. Vasya is an unfortunate inventor, an eternal scapegoat. July is a would-be sorceress, a complete misunderstanding. He lives in an ordinary city and studies in the sixth grade of the most ordinary school. She lives in ... Buy for 403 rubles
The Scapegoat, or How to Shift Blame to Others by Charlie Campbell. Persecution of dissidents, witch hunts, trials of the innocent, trials of animals, purges, repressions, executions, wars, economic crises, financial pyramids - what is all this? Alas,…

Philologist, candidate of philological sciences, poet, member of the Writers' Union of Russia.
Publication date: 04/22/2019

In our culture, any comparison with cattle is perceived extremely unfriendly.

And if some epithet also joins them, an insult will follow not for life, but for us death.

Phraseologism "scapegoat" sounds so unflattering that you want to quickly look into the dictionary or turn to our source to find out who it is.

The meaning of phraseology

Phraseological turnover "scapegoat" is usually pronounced in the address of a person punished for an offense that he did not commit.

Blaming the unfortunate without trial or investigation, he is made extreme, while the real culprit remains unpunished.

When an irritated wife, returning from work, where she was nervous and reproached all day, begins to grumble at her husband, he can rightfully say: “Stop swearing! Found a scapegoat…”

In the political arena, the sacrificial animal most often becomes the people.

The powerful of this world decide questions of their own steepness, unleash wars, erect pyramids and palaces - and all this at the expense of simple nameless little men.

If anything, we ourselves chose our historical path, which means we deserve what we deserve.

The origin of phraseology

For the first time, we encounter the story of the ill-fated goat on the pages of the Old Testament when describing the Jewish holiday Yom Kippur, the day of purification.

On this day, the Jews brought two sacrificial goats, a calf and a ram to the temple. They cast lots, according to which one of the goats was chosen. He was left alive and taken aside. The rest of the cattle were sacrificed.

Above the goat, left alive, the ritual of imposing on him the sins of the entire Jewish people was performed. After their enumeration, a scarlet ribbon was tied to the horns of the beast and sent to the waterless desert, away from human eyes.

There, the unfortunate awaited death from hunger and thirst. The second piece of tape was tied to the gate through which the animal came out. It was believed that the atoning sacrifice was accepted and the sins of the people were forgiven if the ribbon turned white.

Rituals of shifting everything bad, shameful to someone or something in order to free oneself from one’s own inner demons existed in almost any culture: in ancient Greece during the famous Dionysian processions, in Rus', when the dances of buffoons dressed in goat skins began at fairs , and in many other folk festivals.

The ancient mysteries gave way to Christianity, in which Jesus Christ was associated with the idea of a redemptive sacrifice. He is called the Lamb of God. His gift to people is voluntary and brings Salvation.

So, transforming in time, the image of the sacred goat has survived to this day and has completely lost its high meaning. Now he is associated only with resentment "without the fault of the guilty"; modern man does not see any feat in becoming it.

Synonymous expressions

In Russian, the ancient phraseological unit has a synonym of English origin: “whipping boy”.
In short and more familiarly, the innocently punished can be called:

extreme;
astronaut;
Chelyuskinets.

There is also an expression of bewilderment: “What am I, redhead?”, Which translates approximately as “Why me?”. Probably, approximately the same question would be asked by the sacrificial goat if he had the gift of speech.

One way or another, being guilty for others is not the most pleasant state, therefore, having heard such an offensive name, try to get out of the networks set by the attackers with dignity.

Let's talk more about phraseology "scapegoat" .

He came to us from distant Old Testament times.

Are given the meaning, history and source of the origin of the phraseological unit, as well as examples of use from the works of writers.

The meaning of phraseology

Scapegoat- a person who is forced to take the blame of others

Synonyms: whipping boy, extreme, switchman

Scapegoat: the origin of phraseology

This biblical expression arose in connection with the ritual of laying the sins of the whole people on a live goat that existed among the ancient Jews. On the day of absolution (Yom Kippur), the high priest laid both hands on the head of a live goat as a sign of all the sins of the Jewish people being laid on him, after which the goat was driven into the wilderness.

The rite existed for a very long time, during the period of the Jerusalem temple (X century BC - I century AD).

Some experts believe that this rite replaced the primitive communal cult of the king-priest. This cult assumed that a certain hero came from outside, killed the aging priest-king and married his daughter. He magically ensured the fertility and well-being of the tribe, but then just as gradually lost his magical fertilizing power, a hero came from outside and killed him already, married his daughter, and so on.

Apparently, the high priest of the Jerusalem temple must have had a vague dislike for the cult of the king-priest.

This version is also supported by the fact that there were two goats on the day of absolution:

"our" goat, a scapegoat, on which they only ritually laid the sins accumulated by the Jews over the year, and then released into the desert
sacrificial goat, which was slaughtered right in the temple (along with the calf)

However, which of the two goats was decided by lot. But in general, this ritual resembles a bloody meeting between the old and the new king-priest.

In Christianity, the Scapegoat is sometimes interpreted as a prototype of the self-sacrifice of Jesus Christ, since God laid on Jesus the sins of all mankind.

Source

The Old Testament (Leviticus 16:21-22) gives the following description:

And Aaron will bring the goat on which the lot fell for the Lord, and he will offer him as a sin offering; bore their iniquities into an impenetrable land).

Examples from the works of writers

Well, they chose a scapegoat, forced them to write in the criticism department, and life turned out. (F.M. Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov)

Why, then, should I and these unfortunates sit here for everyone, like scapegoats? (A.P. Chekhov, "Ward No. 6")

One of the common flaws in our thinking is the habit of looking for a scapegoat under any circumstances. We turn into “anti”, we oppose one or the other and convince ourselves that if it were possible to bypass, overcome, crush and destroy this or that, humanity would be happy. (HG Wells, Democracy in Patches)

So, over time, we forgot that being a scapegoat is not as bad as a sacrificial goat, and even the most ordinary goat, which will simply be eaten over time. Surrounding such a goat heroic halo faded and only remained the image of a loser trampled on by a more fortunate environment.