Did Wikipedia remove the word "famine" from the Scapegoat article?

Yes. "famine" appeared 1 times in this article's opening at its peak. Today the opening has none; the body has 1. We saved the article's opening paragraph at 5 moments between 2015 and 2025, and the counts come from those saved copies.

When did the Scapegoat article stop using the word "famine"?

The word appeared 1 times in the opening at its peak in 2015. It is absent from today's opening, the part search engines quote and AI systems train on, checked against the live article on 2026-08-02.

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What did Wikipedia remove from the Scapegoat article?

The opening as it read in 2015

This article describes scapegoat in its traditional historical sense.¹ The Scapegoat by William Holman Hunt , 1854.² Scapegoat derives from the common English translation of the Hebrew term azazel (Hebrew: עזאזל) which occurs in Leviticus 16:8 after the prefix la- (Hebrew לַ "for"). And Aaron shall place lots upon the two he goats: one lot "For the Lord," and the other lot, "For Azazel. (for absolute removal)" — Leviticus , Leviticus 16:8 In ancient Greece a cripple or beggar or criminal (the pharmakos ) was cast out of the community, either in response to a natural disaster (such as a plague, famine or an invasion) or in response to a calendrical crisis (such as the end of the year). In the Bible, the goat for Azazel was a goat that was designated (Hebrew לַעֲזָאזֵֽל la-aza'zeyl ) to be outcast in the desert as part of the ceremonies of the Day of Atonement , that began during the Exodus with the original Tabernacle and continued through the times of the temples in Jerusalem . The word now refers to someone who is unfairly blamed by others for problems. In psychology and sociology, the practice of selecting someone as a scapegoat has led to the concept of scapegoating .³

This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 665941547.

The opening as it stood in 2020 7 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear

The Scapegoat , by William Holman Hunt , 1854 In the Bible , a scapegoat is one of two kid goats. As a pair, one goat was sacrificed (not a scapegoat) and the living “scapegoat” was released into the wilderness, taking with it all sins and impurities. The concept first appears in Leviticus , in which a goat is designated to be cast into the desert to carry away the sins of the community. Then Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and sending it away into the wilderness by means of someone designated for the task. The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to a barren region; and the goat shall be set free in the wilderness. — Leviticus 16:21–22 , New Revised Standard Version Practices with some similarities to the scapegoat ritual also appear in Ancient Greece and Ebla .

Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 960639895.

The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023 2 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear

Animal which is ritually burdened This article is about "scapegoat" in its religious and ritualistic sense. Scapegoat ceremony depicted at Lincoln Cathedral in stained glass: "[ Aaron ] is to take the two goats and present them before the Lord at the entrance to the tent of meeting . He is to cast lots for the two goats—one lot for the Lord and the other for the scapegoat. Aaron shall bring the goat whose lot falls to the Lord and sacrifice it for a sin offering . But the goat chosen by lot as the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the Lord to be used for making atonement by sending it into the wilderness as a scapegoat. The concept first appears in the Book of Leviticus , in which a goat is designated to be cast into the desert to carry away the sins of the community. Then Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and sending it away into the wilderness by means of someone designated for the task. The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to a barren region; and the goat shall be set free in the wilderness. — Leviticus 16:21–22 , New Revised Standard Version Practices with some similarities to the scapegoat ritual also appear in Ancient Greece and Ebla .

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