Azazel – the concept linked to the scapegoat on the Day of Atonement
Also known as: Azazel
The exodusRitual concept in the liturgy of the Day of AtonementCentral element in the Yom Kippur ritualSymbolic recipient of Israel's sinsTypological foreshadowing of complete forgiveness of sins?
On the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), as described in Leviticus 16, Azazel plays a central role in one of the Old Testament's most significant rituals. The term designates the recipient of the goat that the high priest sent out into the wilderness after symbolically laying the people's sins upon its head. Azazel is not a biblical person in the traditional sense, but rather a debated ritual and theological concept. The very meaning of the word has been subject to extensive debate – interpretations range from 'the goat that disappears', through a supernatural desert figure, to a place name. During the Day of Atonement ritual, lots were cast over two goats: one was sacrificed to the Lord as a sin offering, and the other was sent away to Azazel in the wilderness. Together, the two goats express a complex picture of atonement – both a substitute sacrifice and the complete removal of sin from God's people. In Christian theological tradition, this ritual is understood as a foreshadowing of the atonement that Christ later accomplished.
Key events
The Day of Atonement ritual is established
God gives Moses instructions for the Day of Atonement, where two goats are to be chosen – one for the Lord and one for Azazel. The ritual establishes the framework for annual atonement for the people of Israel.
2The LORD said to Moses: Tell your brother Aaron that he must not come whenever he pleases into the Most Holy Place behind the curtain, before the atonement cover that is on the ark, or he will die; for I appear in the cloud above the atonement cover.
4He is to put on the holy linen tunic, with linen undergarments next to his body; he is to tie the linen sash around him and wrap the linen turban on his head. These are holy garments, so he must bathe his body in water before he puts them on.
Aaron casts lots over the two goats at the entrance of the tent of meeting – one lot for the Lord and one for Azazel. The casting of lots emphasizes that the selection is in God's hand.
10But the goat on which the lot for Azazel has fallen is to be presented alive before the LORD, so that atonement may be made over it and it may be sent away into the wilderness to Azazel.
Aaron places both hands on the head of the live goat and confesses all Israel's sins and transgressions over it, symbolically laying them upon the goat's head.
21Aaron is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the iniquities of the Israelites, all their rebellious acts, whatever their sins have been. He is to put them on the goat's head and send it away into the wilderness in the care of a man appointed for the task.
The goat for Azazel is sent out into the wilderness by a man appointed for this task, carrying all the people's sins away to a desolate land, as a symbol of the complete removal of sin from the community.
21Aaron is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the iniquities of the Israelites, all their rebellious acts, whatever their sins have been. He is to put them on the goat's head and send it away into the wilderness in the care of a man appointed for the task.
The ritual with the Azazel goat is part of the annual Day of Atonement, established as an everlasting ordinance for the people of Israel to make atonement for all their sins.
29This is to be a lasting ordinance for you: On the tenth day of the seventh month you are to humble yourselves and do no work at all, whether the native-born or the foreigner residing among you.
34This is to be a lasting ordinance for you: atonement is to be made once a year for the Israelites, for all their sins. And Aaron did as the LORD commanded Moses.
The Letter to the Hebrews points to Christ as the final high priest who entered the Most Holy Place with his own blood once for all. Although the Azazel goat is not explicitly mentioned, the rituals of the Day of Atonement are understood in Christian tradition as shadowy images of Christ's perfect work of atonement.
11But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that have now arrived, he went through the greater and more perfect tent, one not made by human hands, that is, not part of this creation.
14how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, cleanse our conscience from dead works to serve the living God!
1For the law is only a shadow of the good things to come, not the true form of those realities. So it can never, by the same sacrifices offered year after year without end, perfect those who draw near.