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Reader question: When a murder suspect claims he’s been made a “sacrificial lamb”, what does it mean? My comments: Essentially, he claims to be innocent. In other words, he’s been wronged. He claims that someone else committed the murder. He claims he has been made a scapegoat to shoulder the blame for the crime by other people. Literally, he is the lamb that’s got sacrificed, as in ancient ritual ceremonies. In ancient societies both here and in the West, people have been known to provide sacrifices to gods in heaven in order to secure a good harvest, rain, peace or any such like. In China, chicken was often used as a sacrifice, something given up as a price to pay for some greater gain. To sacrifice literally means to make sacred, signifying you are sincere and mean business. Usually, the chicken or some other animal is killed for its blood, for shedding blood is considered a great symbol for sacrifice and hardship, meaning you’re ready to give up everything, even life for your chosen cause. In ancient China, when pledging their allegiance in brotherhood, for example, young men would drink the chicken blood off. After that, they supposedly would be together and have each other’s back for always – till deaths do them apart. However, “sacrificial lamb” rather than chicken is the standard phrase because in Biblical societies and cultures in the ancient Middle East, lamb was a highly valued animal than others. Hence, the lamb becomes the universal symbol of the sacrificial figure. | 
