The Scapegoat Sent into the Wilderness

The scapegoat is driven away from the assembly into the barren wilderness, bearing the confessed sins of Israel according to the Day of Atonement rite. A robed figure gestures forcefully as the goat runs from the gathered people, while solemn witnesses stand near the edge of the camp and the open desert stretches beyond. The subject draws from Leviticus 16, where Aaron places the iniquities of the people upon the live goat and sends it away by the hand of an appointed man. The ritual proclaims both judgment and mercy: sin is named before God, then removed from the congregation. For Christian teaching, the scene also serves as a vivid Old Testament picture of atonement, substitution, confession, and the need for cleansing before the Lord. by S. M. Davis