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Concept
Azazel
Summary
In the Bible, the name Azazel (əˈzeɪzəl,_ˈæzəˌzɛl; עֲזָאזֵל ʿAzāʾzēl; ʿAzāzīl) appears in association with the scapegoat rite; the name represents a desolate place where a scapegoat bearing the sins of the Jews during Yom Kippur was sent. During the end of the Second Temple period, his association as a fallen angel responsible for introducing humans to forbidden knowledge emerged due to Hellenization, Christian narrative, and interpretation exemplified in the Book of Enoch. His role as a fallen angel partly remains in Christian and Islamic traditions.
In the Hebrew Bible, the term is used three times in Acharei Mot in Leviticus 16, where two male goats were to be sacrificed to Yahweh and one of the two was selected by lot, for Yahweh is seen as speaking through the lots. One goat is selected by lot and sent into the wilderness לַעֲזָאזֵל, "for Azazel". This goat was then cast out in the desert as part of Yom Kippur. The scapegoat ritual can be traced back to 24th century BC Ebla, from where it spread throughout the ancient Near East.
In older English versions, such as the King James Version, the phrase la-azazel is translated as "as a scapegoat"; however, in most modern English Bible translations, it is represented as a name in the text:
Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering for himself, and shall make atonement for himself and for his house. He shall take the two goats and set them before the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting; and Aaron shall cast lots on the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other lot for Azazel. Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot fell for the Lord, and offer it as a sin offering; but the goat on which the lot fell for Azazel shall be presented alive before the Lord to make atonement over it, that it may be sent away into the wilderness to Azazel.
A baraita, apparently interpreting ʿazazel as ʿaz (rugged) + El God, understands it to refer to the rugged and rough mountain cliff from which the goat was cast down.
Official source
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