"Scapegoat" or "Goat for Azazel"

The Rabbis, interpreting "Azazel" as "Azaz" (rugged), and "el" (strong), refer it to the rugged and rough mountain cliff from which the goat was cast down (Yoma 67b; Sifra, Aḥare, ii. 2; Targ. Yer. Lev. xiv. 10, and most medieval commentators).Most modern scholars, after having for some time indorsed the old view, have accepted the opinion mysteriously hinted at by Ibn Ezra and expressly stated by Naḥmanides to Lev. xvi. 8, that Azazel belongs to the class of "se'irim," goat-like demons, jinn haunting the desert, to which the Israelites were wont to offer sacrifice (Lev. xvii. 7 [A. V. "devils"]; compare "the roes and the hinds," Cant. ii. 7, iii. 5, by which Sulamith administers an oath to the daughters of Jerusalem. The critics were probably thinking of a Roman faun).

http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=2203&letter=A

 

These are the notes/comments on the lots and on Azazel of Lev. 16.8 from the NET Bible. (The Hebrew letters come through here like gobeleygook):

 

I believe both goats pointed toward JESUS, who both died for OUR sins, for the Lord, as did the one goat, and who bore all our sins, although He had no sin Himself...just as the scapegoat had nothing wrong of itself.

Now before anyone hollers, "But Jesus is the LAMB of God!" let us remember two things...First, God's express command was to use goats...and under certain conditions, goats could be substituted .

As for which is correct...azazel or scapegoat...BOTH are. The preceeding verses indicate that the animals involved were two goats. Therefore the "sin-bearing" goat was called the "scape goat", while "azazel" is the HEBREW word. Surely, directly rendering the Hebrew as what it actually says couldn't be incorrect!

 

Roby,

True. Either way, it's a goat being dedicated to a demon, a demon known in the Arab world as Azazel and recorded in the Book of Enoch as Azazel. I don't see any benefit in translating the demon's name into English as "Scapegoat." Call the salvific demon "Scapegoat" or call him "Azazel," it's just a name. We don't worry about the exact translation of the name Jesus/Joshua/Yeshua, and Azazel is minor compared to Jesus.

 

Which is right, the "goat for Azazel"? Or the "goat for the goat of departure" / the "goat for the scapegoat"? The latter makes no sense.

 

One can detect certain different things here.

I like the suggestion by Waltke (Rob's post) that the word was "ez azal", the goat sent out.

We know that Jewish lore said there were demons in the wilderness, and perhaps traditionally this was viewed superstitiously as a bit of an appeasement to the demons so that they would not attack people, keeping in mind that the early Israelites were in constant contact with and sometimes fell back into pagan ritual.

Enochian tradition tells us that a fallen angel (essentially Satan) was punished by God and lived under the earth. The book of Enoch tells us his name was Azazel. Perhaps this name derives from the idea of a goat sent out to appease the demons.

The strange thing (in my opinion) is it seems to be one word, and not two as one would expect if it were the "ez azal", the goat sent out. AND it would be very unlikely that Moses would have included anything that even suggested that this goat was a sacrifice of appeasement for a demon.

Interesting topic!

 

As Christians, we hafta go by what Scripture says. The scapegat symbolically bore the sins of Israel for the period between the last scapegoat ceremony and this one. I believe it was taken so far outside the camp that it couldn't find its way back, and that it was not killed. And I don't believe it had anything to do with any pagan rites.

The two goats symbolize JESUS in ways; as He both bore our sins and took their penalty...death.

Once a sin is committed, it cannot be UN-committed; it now exists. But JESUS is infinitely powerful; while He doesn't uncommit our sins, He REMOVES THEM OUT OF SIGHT so neither He nor His Father will ever see them again, just as the scapegoat, while still existing, was never seen by Israel again. I believe Azazel is yet another name for the devil or one of his chief helpers.

BTW, our Chesapeake Panthers basketball team has reached the regional finals(Ohio Sweet Sixteen statewide) & will face Ironton thursday, the only team to have beaten the Panthers this year. Sorry if the Panthers hammered your Cabell-Midland Knights in the St. Joe Invitational tourney, but at least the Knights took out Hurricane last week!

(Now that I've gone off-topic here, meet me in the Sports Forum if you wanna discuss it further! I'll start a thread there & call it "OH-WV HS sports!}