Scapegoat

in the ancient Jewish ritual, a goat loaded with the sins of the people and sent away into the wilderness. After the Hebrews settled in Jerusalem the scapegoat was driven over a precipice about twelve miles from the city. In Leviticus xvi: 21, 22, it is said:

And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel . . . and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness, and the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities into a land not inhabited.

In literature, the term scapegoat is applied to anyone who is made to bear the blame for the wrong doings of others. See Jews