A Mimetic Reading of Deuteronomy 21:18-21

The problematic assumption that biblical purity thematically represents life and death is commonly held within modern biblical studies. Building upon this assumption, many scholars have attempted to explain the treatment of the ṣāraʿat patient in Leviticus 13:1-46 as a symbolic banishment of death. However, the current paper attempts to move beyond this reading towards a method of reconstructing the evolution of biblical rituals and practices. Through the utilisation of René Girard’s four scapegoat stereotypes, the current paper identifies the scapegoat mechanism in Leviticus 13:1-46, and reconstructs a proposed evolution of this ritual. This paper suggests that the ritual presented in Leviticus 13:1-46 may have evolved from an earlier tradition, in which ṣāraʿat patients were executed to halt a mimetic crisis.