The now commonly-used English term “scapegoat” (meaning a person who is blamed for the wrongdoings, mistakes, or faults of others) was first coined in 1530 in the English Pentateuch translation of William Tyndale (in the spelling scapegoote, meaning “the goat that escaped”). (Source: Crystal 2010, p. 278)
In the New English Bible, it is translated as “the Precipice,” while in other English versions it can also be translated as “Azazel,” referring to a demon (see Translation commentary on Leviticus 16:8 and thanks Elizabeth Lewis).
The Hebrew and Greek that is translated with “clothes” or similar in English is translated in Enlhet as “crawling-in-stuff” (source: Jacob Loewen in The Bible Translator 1971, p. 169ff. ) and in Noongar as bwoka or “Kangaroo skin” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang).
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Leviticus 16:26:
Kupsabiny: “The man who has taken a he-goat into the wilderness must wash his clothes and bathe so that he can return to inside the camp.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “The man who had gone to release the goat in the wilderness must wash his clothes and bathe, then he may come back into the camp.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “The person who was-put-in-charge to free the goat for Azazel he must launder his clothes and bathe before he returns to the camp.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “‘he man who was chosen to send the other goat into the desert and free it there must afterwards wash his clothes and bathe. Then he may return to the camp.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
He who lets the goat go: or “the person who led (or, drove) the goat….” Compare verse 21.
Wash his clothes: see 11.25.
Bathe his body in water: see verses 4 and 24 above.
And afterward he may come into the camp: in some languages it will be better to make a new sentence and say something like “Only after doing these things is he allowed to return to the camp.” New English Bible has “not till then is he allowed to enter the camp.” It may also be possible in some languages to reorder the entire verse and say something like “Before returning to camp, the man who led the goat into the desert to Azazel is required to wash his clothes and take a bath.” Or “before he is allowed to rejoin the community, the one who took the goat to Azazel in the desert must wash his clothes and his body.”
Quoted with permission from Péter-Contesse, René and Ellington, John. A Handbook on Leviticus. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1990. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
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