spamandham

Kill them both. Let YHWH sort 'em out.

ph2ter

The ambivalent attitude toward the Samaritans maybe existed from the beginning, but was never clearly expressed. Later editing of the Pentateuch blocks our view and prevents us to see the original stance towards the Samaritans.

The connection between the two goats of the Day of Atonement and Jacob and Esau is strengthen also by some elements inside the story of blessing. Their mother says to Jacob: "Go now to the flock and bring me two choice young goats from there, that I may prepare them as a savory dish for your father, such as he loves."
The father Isaac there serves as God to whom the two goats are sacrificed. Afterwards Rebecah says "put the skins of the young goats on Jacob's hands and on the smooth part of his neck".
Jacob here literally imitates the goat for a sacrifice (not Esau). Isaac afterward says: "May those who curse you be cursed and those who bless you be blessed."
Again the well known phrase. One son is blessed, and another is cursed. Esau belongs to those who cursed Jacob:
"So Esau bore a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him; and Esau said to himself, "The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob."", so he is really cursed.

The scapegoat ritual have its parallels among ancient Hittites.
In the case of a pestilence the Hittites drive up one ram. They twine together blue, red, yellow and white wool, make it into crown and crown the ram with it. They drive the ram on the road leading to the enemy to "whatever god of enemy land has caused this plague". "The country which accepts the ram shall take this evil plague".
Also among ancient Greeks exist similar stories. In the foundation story of Ionian Erythrae the biggest and finest bull with his horns gilded and his body adorned with fillets and purple cloths stitched with gold was fled toward the enemies and finally drive them mad because they have eaten its meat after sacrificing it.
Polycrite in a tale of Naxos although saving the city, after returning to her home town is pelted with girdles, wreaths and shawls. She had to die outside the city, although her tomb was honored with a cult.
A threatening situation to the community (for example, a war) prompts the selection of the one out of many. That person or animal is abandoned to fall prey to the enemies which is fatal for them and cannot return home in spite of patriotic merits and must die outside the community.

There is in all above cases the same action pattern of selecting (lottery), adorning, and driving away to be accepted and destroyed by some hostile force, and the message communicated by the action pattern is identical: transference of evil, salvation of one's own side at the expense of the enemy's. The victim is led away peacefully and deliberately and it must never come back.
The adornment mark the transformation from a previous normal state to the status of a victim singled out and left alone.
Structure and history in Greek mythology and ritual By Walter Burkert

The horns of a goat which has been expelled into the wilderness were according to Mishna tradition bound with a crimson thread similar to the Greek and the Hittite ram and bull. The evil transferred into the wilderness was sin.

Polycrite must die outside the community. This brings to my mind Jesus and his death outside the city gates. Because of that it looks that he serves as a goat expelled into the wilderness. This could be the reason why Jesus is sacrificed outside the city and not on the Temple mount. He was also clothed in a purple cloak and crowned with a crown of thorns and then mocked. Thorns have also some connection with the wilderness.
That we are not in error testifies the Epistle of Barnabas:

semiopen

One has to think that the mocking of Jesus was added later for unrelated reasons; the scapegoats apparently weren't mocked.

It's not easy to come up with an original insight into the bible. The only concept I've come up with that may be original is that Joseph appears to be gay. This might explain why his brothers didn't like him, he was sold as a sex slave (according to Nachmanides) etc. This (in the unlikely event that it is true) is pretty subtle however.

The problem with the Northern Kingdom is that it wasn't within easy traveling distance of Jerusalem, this somehow became their fault when the religion was centralized.

There is an incident at Elephantine where their temple was destroyed (which in itself is remarkable since these guys were mercenaries and it's hard to believe people would fuck with them) and they wrote letters asking support from both Jerusalem and Samaria.

Thanks for the explanation of Esau's sin... not much of a sin all in all, but they say the more righteous a person is, the higher the standards God holds you to - like Moses hitting the rock.

manwithdream

I have not read the whole discussion about child sacrifices, but I think someone mentioned Ezekiel 20:24-25 that said that G-d gave bad laws to Israel which some people say includes child sacrifice. I was thinking that the bad laws could be the laws of their fathers mentioned in Ezekiel 20:18 which might have included child sacrifices Ezekiel 20:26 and 31.
Maybe G-d punished Israel by letting them follow their fathers' laws which were bad, instead of the Torah's laws which are good.

Kenneth Greifer

semiopen

Also possible (and more likely) is a plot by space aliens.

Most modern scholars think human sacrifice was a long standing cultural tradition in this region. The prohibitions against human sacrifice came later and are reflected in the Torah. The issue is when the Torah was written, and it is pretty clear that it was after this period. We don't hear much about this practice after the Babylonian exile.

ph2ter

From accursed to mocked the path is short.
If you are interested, the book which discusses related questions and is very informative: The impact of Yom Kippur on early Christianity By Daniel Stökl Ben Ezra

What also interests me is a red ribbon or crimson thread which the Kohen Gadol tied around the horns of the goat “for Azazel. The same red thread around the horns of the ram which Abraham sacrificed instead of Isaac could be seen on the mosaics of the synagogues of Beit Alfa and Sephoris. The ram is hanging from the tree with a reddish rope, reminiscent of the red ribbon of the scapegoat.
According to Mishnah Yoma, before the scapegoat was pushed of the cliff, half of the ribbon was bound to a rock, but Barnabas talks about placing the scarlet wool upon a shrub which is called Rachia or Rachel. On the mosaic, the ram is hanging from the tree. This brings us into the symbolism which involves the hanging from the tree and which is not very far from the symbolism of crucifixion.
The red color probably symbolizes the blood and sin, because Isaiah 1.18 says "though your sins are like scarlet they shall be white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool".
Leviticus 14.6-7 also has crimson yarn and the ritual in question has many similarities with the scapegoat ritual: The priest shall take two birds and to sacrifice one of them. He shall take the living bird with the cedar wood and the crimson yarn and the hyssop, and dip them over the living bird in the blood of the bird that was slaughtered over the fresh water. He shall sprinkle it seven times upon the one who is to be cleansed of the leprous disease, then shall pronounce him clean, and he shall let the living bird go into the open field.