2500 BC, ancient Syria, a stone tablet contains an inscription describing the preparations for a royal wedding, and how the house of the dead must first be purified. The tablet describes a live goat being sent out and released, carrying with it any impurity, thus allowing the gods, and the king and queen to enter the mausoleum as part of the wedding ceremony…
“We purify the mausoleum before the entrance of the gods Kura and Barama. A goat, a silver bracelet hanging from its neck, towards the steppe of Alini we let it go.”
Late Bronze age, Hattusa - the capital of the Hittite Empire - a ceremony for the purification of the king and queen…
The exorcist releases one bull for the king, and one cow, ewe, and nanny goat for the queen’s implements - all as a nakušši (sent-away) - and then declares as follows:
“Whatever evil word, false oath, curse, or impurity has been committed in the sight of the deity - may these nakuššis carry them off from before the deity. May the deity and the king and queen be purified of these things!”
Close by, another ancient Hittite ritual describes how evil is removed from a sick or afflicted person; it is transferred to a mouse via a red thread, and the mouse is sent away and released in an uninhabited region as a gift for the gods Zarniza and Tarpattašši who reside there…
She (the exorcist) wraps a small piece of tin in a thread and binds it around the right hand and foot of the afflicted person. Then she takes it from them, binding it around a mouse: “I have taken the evil from you. I have bound it around the mouse. May this mouse carry it to the high mountains, to the deepest valleys, to the long roads.”
Then they release the mouse: “Zarniza, Tarpattašši - You, take this for yourself, and we shall give you something else to eat.”
1400 BC, the port city of Ugarit - a trading partner with Egypt and the Hittite Empire - the following instructions are found…
If a city is captured or if the people die, all the people shall take a goat and lead it far off…
800 BC, at the height of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, a stone tablet describes a ritual for removing evil and disease from a sick person. The sick person spits into a frog’s mouth, symbolically passing the illness into it, a red and white thread is attached to its feet, tied on with thorns, and the live frog is taken back to the water where it is released. The following words are spoken
“Frog, you know the disease which seized me... When you hop off and return to your waters, you will return the evil to its steppe.”[1]
Early Iron Age, a scroll containing priestly instructions for cleansing a Hebrew house that has been contaminated with mould. The priest takes two clean birds, slaughters one and collects its blood. He takes cedar wood, hyssop, and a red thread and dips them in the blood, along with the second live bird. The live bird is then released to fly away over an open field.
he shall let the live bird go free outside the city into the open field. So he shall make atonement for the house, and it will be clean. (Leviticus 14:53)
You’ll have read that last story in your Bible if you’ve read right through Leviticus, and it’s one reason why Leviticus is my favourite. The ritual of the two birds is somewhat of a parallel to another ritual I’m sure you’re familiar with: the day of atonement. and once you notice those similarities, sitting alongside the other rituals performed by Israel’s neighbours, it provides an indispensable cultural lens through which to understand what the two goats are doing on Day of Atonement.
All of those ancient rituals share a common action; some kind of uncleanness or evil is attached to a live animal who is sent away and released. They’re often called ‘scapegoat’ rituals, and that’s a word we can thank Tyndale for. In 1530 when translating the Torah, he made up the word scapegoat because he saw a goat that escapes or an ‘escape goat.’ This goat is different to all other animal offerings in Leviticus, and one main reason is because it does not die, it escapes.[2]
If you’ve been reading through leviticus (you should, it’s amazing) when you turn the page to chapter 16 and start reading about the Day of Atonement, you will notice a jarring change of language. Normally a section begins with the phrase "The LORD said to Moses”, but chapter 16 begins with a double reference to God speaking (16:1-2a). Aaron is told to “bathe his body in water” before he changes into “holy garments” which are white priestly garments and a turban - different to his normal priestly attire. Then Aaron is instructed to take “two goats and set them before the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting. And Aaron shall cast lots over the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other lot for Azazel” (Lev 16:7-8 ESV).
Two goats; this is new. Casting lots over the goats; this is unprecedented. One goat for Yahweh, one for someone called Azazel; this is scandalous. The outrageous drama continues as one goat is not killed but is instead released. This goat has two hands placed on its head instead of one. And then, something never seen anywhere else in the Bible; this goat has all the iniquities, transgressions and sins of Israel placed on its head. This word transgression is also unique; occurring only twice in Leviticus, apparently only dealt with on this day. Lastly, this goat is referred to three times as the ‘live goat.’ All of this is new. Something extraordinary is happening here.
So we have a sin-covered goat, on its way to be released into the wilderness. What do you suppose should happen to this four footed courier carrying all the sin and evil of thousands of people? Should it be punished? Beaten? Tortured? Killed? All other animal offerings in Leviticus are killed, so it may seem the expected next act in this drama
The only animal that has sins confessed over its head is the only animal in the Levitical rituals that does not get killed: the scapegoat is driven away, bearing Israel's sins into the wilderness.[3]
There’s a mic drop moment from N.T. Wright, and it’s worth pondering further. The only animal in the whole Bible that is expressly said to have sin placed on it, is the animal that is specifically not killed. Instead, this live goat is led away from Israel, outside the camp, taking all their impurities and uncleanness with it, where it is sent on its way. No blood, no torture, no death.
The Epistle of Barnabas[4] was written somewhere between AD 70 and 130, and now that we’ve been introduced to some other ancient scapegoat rituals, the Epistle of Barnabas holds some surprises. This text shows how the practice of driving out the live goat had evolved from the original commands God gave way back in Leviticus, to the time of Jesus.
"Take two goats, goodly and alike, and offer them, and let the priest take the one as a burnt offering for sins."
But what are they to do with the other? "The other," he says, "is accursed." Notice how the type of Jesus is manifested:
"And do ye all spit on it, and goad it, and bind the scarlet wool about its head, and so let it be cast into the desert." … "the first goat is for the altar, but the other is accursed," and note that the one that is accursed is crowned, because then "they will see him" on that day with the long scarlet robe "down to the feet" on his body, and they will say, "Is not this he whom we once crucified and rejected and pierced and spat upon? Of a truth it was he who then said that he was the Son of God."[5]
This poor goat suffered a disturbingly more violent fate than God originally prescribed in Leviticus. It was spat upon, goaded (prodded with a sharp stick, I had to look it up), and at some point the Jews started tying a scarlet thread to its head like a ‘crown,’ imitating the ‘scapegoat’ rituals practised by their ancient Hittite neighbours. Now, if we read the account found in Mark’s Gospel all this extra information will jump off the page
Now the soldiers took Him away … And they dressed Him in purple [footnote: Probably a term for a Roman soldier’s red cloak (cf. Matt 27:28)], and after twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on Him… And they repeatedly beat His head with a reed [stick] and spit on Him… And they led Him out to crucify Him. (Mark 15:16-20)
It’s pretty clear; Mark is vividly portraying Jesus as acting out the role of the goat for Azazel. Perhaps like me though, you’re wondering when they started treating the goat so cruelly? Well, it gets worse… Here’s how the Mishnah explains what ended up happening to the second goat.
And they made a ramp for the goat due to the Babylonian Jews who were in Jerusalem, who would pluck at the goat’s hair and would say to the goat: Take our sins and go, take our sins and go, and do not leave them with us…
[the goat is then led to the edge of a cliff]
What did the one designated to dispatch the goat do there? He divided a strip of crimson into two parts, half of the strip tied to the rock, and half of it tied between the two horns of the goat. And he pushed the goat backward, and it rolls and descends. And it would not reach halfway down the mountain until it was torn limb from limb. (Mishnah Yoma 6)
You can imagine it would be quite awkward if one day the sin-covered goat wandered back into the Israelite camp, which is probably why they ended up killing it, despite it never being part of God’s original instructions. Neither do I remember God giving any instructions to beat, mock or spit at any animal. To demonstrate that Israel’s sin had been removed, Yahweh was pretty clear; they were to lead the live goat away and release it. Killing the goat kind of misses the point of the ritual. But unfortunately when humans are involved things often turn deadly, as Jesus experienced more than once.
Jesus began His ministry by reading from the Isaiah scroll, announcing… you guessed it… release! “He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, And recovery of sight to the blind, To set free those who are oppressed” (Luke 4:18). Luke tells how Jesus walked out of the synagogue and got straight to work, releasing things left right and centre: sin, disease, evil spirits.(footnote from book) Ironically, before Jesus could begin sending away evil, the people tried to kill Him. When Jesus handed back the Isaiah scroll the people got so mad they “got up and drove Him out of the city, and led Him to the brow of the hill… in order to throw Him down the cliff” (Luke 4:29-30) in an act reminiscent of how the goat for Azazel was treated. But Jesus refused to be killed in this way. Jesus wasn’t interested in their twisted version of the Azazel goat ritual.[6]
Through the vivid visual drama of the scapegoat, God is teaching Israel what He does (and what Jesus will do) with sin. He removes it.
As far as the east is from the west,
So far has He removed our transgressions from us. (Ps 103:12 NIV)
Notice the word order, because this is important. God removes transgression from us. He picks it up. He carries it. He tosses it far away into the wilderness. Did you also notice that word transgressions.[7] I wonder if David wrote this psalm having just watched a year's worth of transgressions, that particularly heavy sin, being carried away into the sunset.
Do you know where else the word transgression turns up? When Yahweh reveals His Name and His character to Abraham. He describes Himself as Yahweh Who carries transgression (Ex 34:7). This may be a topic for another day, but the Hebrew word nasa which is often translated forgive, literally means carry. In Hebrew thought, sin or guilt was a burden that remained on a person or a community until it was lifted off - removed. This is how Hebrew understands forgiveness. the weight of sin, the burden of guilt is being carried by God, taken away. Young's Literal Translation translates the verse, “taking away iniquity, and transgression, and sin” (Ex 34:7). In a sense, Yahweh gets His hands dirty; He picks up sin, He carries it, and He hurls it away with all His might.
Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives [nasa carries] the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea. (Micah 7:18-19 NIV)
And once a year Israel was privileged to watch God’s character in action, acted out in a visceral visual drama. All Israel’s transgression, sin, impurity and corruption was carried away: gone, completing the act of atonement. And at the end of the day, the Day of Atonement, a heavy layer of grime had been removed from the Israelite camp, “for it is on this day that atonement shall be made for you to cleanse you; you will be clean from all your sins before the Lord” (Lev 16:30).
Day of Atonement; Yom Kippur
The word atonement is another word we can thank Tyndale for. Basically when he came to the Hebrew word kippur, he couldn’t think of a suitable English word, so he made one up. He thought kippur contained the idea of being reconciled to God, or God and humanity being ‘at one’ so he invented the word ‘at-one-ment.’ Which is a great made up word, until you realise that atonement is also made for houses, the Tabernacle and the altar, and, well, being at one with an altar doesn’t sound very appealing. The Hebrew root of kippur means ‘wipe,’ and depending on how it’s used it can mean to wipe on, or wipe off or wipe away. The first time kippur appears in the Bible is when Noah is ‘wiping on’ pitch onto the ark. Noah kippur-ing the ark may not have the same meaning as a priest kippur-ing Israel, but I think the word choice is intentional as we will see in a minute. Here is how The Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament explains the complexities surrounding kippur:
“in Gen 6:14 it means “to cover with” pitch whereas in Lev 17:11 it means “to wipe clean with” blood. The pitch was a paint-like sealant. The blood was a detergent-like cleanser... The meaning “cover” belongs to the same verbal root but in another stem…” (R. Laird Harris, TWOT)
Hebrew scholars explain atonement more as wiping off rather than wiping on, using terms like purging or wiping clean. Jewish scholar Tim Hegg helps untangle the root meaning of kippur and its related nuances
…the base meaning is “to wipe away,” …it “wipes” sancta “clean,” meaning it restores the status of sanctum to that which had been defiled. In this way, the qal meaning of the verb, “to cover with pitch” is connected to the meaning of the piel, “to wipe (with blood).” [qal and piel are Hebrew stems which provide different information for Hebrew verbs][8]
Tim Hegg is suggesting kippur is restoring something to its former condition. Mary Douglas, an anthropologist who wrote an amazing book called Leviticus as Literature, shares a similar sentiment
“Atonement does not mean covering a sin so as to hide it from the sight of God; it means making good an outer layer which has rotted or been pierced.”[9]
Over the course of the year, all of Israel’s sin and corruption had built up, effectively rotting the Tent, corroding the altar, decaying the community. What the high priest was doing on Day of Atonement was cleaning away the corruption, piling it all on top of a poor goat who carried it all away, leaving the Israelite camp restored to its former condition.
In Leviticus 14 we find another ‘two birds’ ritual, but this time it’s not a house being purified, this ritual describes the process for cleansing a person recovering from a skin disease. It involves two birds and a scarlet thread. Bird One is killed so its blood can be collected. The second live bird is taken along with the red thread, dipped in the blood, and in running water, which is then sprinkled on the unclean person with the skin disease. Then the live bird is sent out to fly away over an open field! The bird is released, carrying away the uncleanness, just like a goat taking away sin (or a frog or a mouse). Geoffrey Harper recently wrote a book entitled ‘Teaching Leviticus’ where he noticed a helpful Hebrew wordplay
The living bird's release carries the impurity away from the camp. Use of wordplay reveals the connections: the person made impure through exposure of 'living flesh' is purified using 'living water' (NIV 'fresh water) and removal of defilement by a 'living bird.’[10]
When the word kippur first shows up in the Bible, it appears in a story dealing with a massive build up of corruption. Corruption is actually the word the Bible uses when describing the need for the flood; “Now the earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked on the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for humanity had corrupted its way upon the earth” (Gen 6:11-12). In Hebrew, this word corrupt describes something that is rotten, ruined, or decayed. Violence had begun rotting the earth, humanity’s corruption had caused ruin, death and decay.
The corruption and evil on the land had built up to the point that it needed to be removed - wiped away. In the flood story we see God’s answer to this corruption as we watch Noah kippur-ing ‘wiping on’ pitch, so that God can ‘wipe away’ the corruption (Gen 6:7). The word ‘wipe away’ is used elsewhere for wiping clean a bowl (2 Ki 21:13), causing us to imagine God performing an atonement-like act as He cleans corruption from the earth. When the days of cleansing are completed, Noah sends out a raven; which, if you’ve read Leviticus you will recognise as an impure bird (Lev 11:15). This impure bird is released. Then Noah sends out a pure bird, a dove, and it returns to him, bringing in its beak new life from a tree. After this ritual has been performed, Noah can safely step into his new home, resting assured it has been purified.
There are some oddly specific details worth noticing, like Noah’s rectangular structure has 3 sections just like the Tabernacle.[11] Noah opens a covering that just pops up in the story for no apparent reason (Gen 8:13), except that elsewhere this word refers exclusively to the coverings of the Tabernacle. And what day is it? The first day of the first month - the same day the Tabernacle was set up (Ex 40:1-2).[12] When we realise everything Noah does maps onto a scapegoat style purification ritual, and that he is performing that ritual from within a tabernacle-like vessel, all at once we have a new framework within which to understand the flood story.
We can now see the flood story for what it is: a cleansing of impurity. From within his tabernacle sanctuary, God's priestly representative confirms: the whole earth has been purified. Next time God purifies the whole earth however, it won’t be with water, it will be with blood. His own.
Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you - not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal of a good conscience to God - through the resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 3:21 LSB)
Corresponding to what? The flood! Baptism, a washing of water, a cleansing, corresponds to the flood, precisely because Peter sees the flood as cleansing the earth. And Peter should know all about cleansing, having had a particularly vivid encounter with a sheet full of ‘unclean’ animals. This sheet was lowered by its “four corners” suggesting the four corners of the earth, and Peter understands the vision to mean more than mere animals. Peter understands that God was talking about the whole world. God said “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean,” and Peter responds by telling a table full of Gentiles, “God has shown me that I should not call anyone impure or unclean” (Acts 10:15,28 NIV).
I thought about finishing with a sweeping statement about the cleansed state of humanity, but I decided instead to leave it to the Apostle John to conclude
the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin… If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness… and he himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for our sins but also for the whole world… You know that he appeared in order to take away sins[13]
Footnotes:
[1] Dr. Noga Ayali-Darshan, The Scapegoat Ritual and Its Ancient Near Eastern Parallels. (I've slightly paraphrased the quotes to make them easier to read. The full article is amazing, and worth reading in full:
[2] Harry Freedman - Atonement- A Made Up Word with an Impossible Meaning https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/atonement-a-made-up-word-with-an-impossible-meaning/
[3] N.T. Wright - Saving the World, Revealing the Glory: Atonement Then and Now
[4] The complete text is preserved in the 4th-century Codex Sinaiticus, where it appears at the end of the New Testament along with the Shepherd of Hermas, showing that the Epistle of Barnabas was highly regarded in some Christian communities. "Epistle of Barnabas." New World Encyclopedia, Sep 2023
[5] The Epistle of Barnabas, Kirsopp Lake translation - 1912
[6] Thanks to my friend Joshua Sherman for these words and his insight
[7] In verses 10-12 David uses those same 3 words for sin from Leviticus 16 that are placed on the live goat.
[8] Tim Hegg, The Meaning of 19> Kafar "To Make Atonement" - Torah Resource
[9] Terms derived from cleansing, washing and purging have imported into biblical scholarship distractions which have occluded Leviticus' own very specific and clear description of atonement. According to the illustrative cases from Leviticus, to atone means to cover or recover, cover again, to repair a hole, cure a sickness, mend a rift, make good a torn or broken covering. As a noun, what is translated atonement, expiation or purgation means integument made good; conversely, the examples in the book indicate that defilement means integument torn. Atonement does not mean covering a sin so as to hide it from the sight of God; it means making good an outer layer which has rotted or been pierced. M.Douglas 'Atonement in Leviticus' JSQ 1(1993-94) p.117
[10] G. Geoffrey Harper, Teaching Leviticus - From text to message, 2022
[11] The outer court, the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place, correspond to the three sections of the ark (Gen 6:16), the instructions for both also indicating a rectangular structure.
[12] Tim Mackie made many of these connections in his class, Noah to Abraham. BibleProject Classroom
[13] 1 John 1:7,9 ESV; 2:2 NET; 3:5 ESV - Emphasis added
I didn't know about that passage from the Epistle of Barnabas. Terrific!