Jesus as Goat of the Day of Atonement in Recent Synoptic Gospels Research

Abstract

Do the Synoptic passion narratives portray Jesus (and Barabbas) as one (or both) of the goats of the Day of Atonement? This question currently has no consensus in biblical scholarship but four contrasting positions: The evangelists portray (1) Jesus as the abused scapegoat in his maltreatment by the Roman soldiers (Mk 15.16-20 parr.); (2) Jesus as a pharmakos-like scapegoat patterned after Hellenistic motifs of redemptive suffering; (3) Barabbas as the scapegoat and Jesus as the immolated goat (Mt. 27.15-26 parr.); and (4) Jesus as neither goat, but the typological fulfillment of alternative (suffering) figures: Isaiah’s Servant, the Psalms’ Righteous Sufferer, the Son of Man, and the divine warrior. This article reviews and evaluates these four positions, suggesting avenues for future research.

The Gerasene Exorcism and Jesus’ Eschatological Expulsion of Cosmic Powers: Echoes of Second Temple Scapegoat Traditions in Mark 5.1-20

“…These arguments are, however, less compelling in my opinion. On Mark’s possible use of a scapegoat and immolated goat typology in the Barabbas narrative (15.6-15) and in the Roman abuse account (15.16-20), see Crossan 1988: 114-59; Koester 1990: 220-30; Maclean 2007: 321-24; Moscicke 2018: 60-74.…”