he demons, whom the Gentiles worshipped in
desert places, because it was unlawful to offer aught to them; but in
order to point out the effect of the sacrifice which had been offered
up. Hence the priest put his hand on its head, while confessing the
sins of the children of Israel: as though that goat were to carry
them away into the wilderness, where it would be devoured by wild
beasts, because it bore the punishment of the people's sins. And it
was said to bear the sins of the people, either because the
forgiveness of the people's sins was signified by its being let
loose, or because on its head written lists of sins were fastened.

The figurative reason of these things was that Christ was
foreshadowed both by the calf, on account of His power; and by the
ram, because He is the Head of the faithful; and by the he-goat, on
account of "the likeness of sinful flesh" (Rom. 8:3). Moreover,
Christ was sacrificed for the sins of both priests and people: since
both those of high and those of low degree are cleansed from sin by
His Passion. The blood of the calf and of the goat was brought into
the Holies by the priest, because the entrance to the kingdom of
heaven was opened to us by the blood of Christ's Passion. Their
bodies were burnt without the camp, because "Christ suffered without
the gate," as the Apostle declares (Heb. 13:12). The scape-goat may
denote either Christ's Godhead Which went away into solitude when the
Man Christ suffered, not by going to another place, but by
restraining His power: or it may signify the base concupiscence which
we ought to cast away from ourselves, while we offer up to Our Lord
acts of virtue.

With regard to the uncleanness contracted by those who burnt these
sacrifices, the reason is the same as that which we assigned (ad 5)
to the sacrifice of the red heifer.

Reply Obj. 7: The legal rite did not cleanse the leper of his
deformity, but declared him to be cleansed. This is shown by the
words of Lev. 14:3, seqq., where it was said that the priest, "when
he shall find that the leprosy is cleansed," shall command "him that
is to be purified": consequently, the leper was already healed: but
he was said to be purified in so far as the verdict of the priest
restored him to the society of men and to the worship of God. It
happened sometimes, however, that bodily leprosy was miraculously
cured by the legal rite, when the priest erred in his judgment.

Now this purification of a leper was