For the third time in a row, the Jewish community reads Parshas Aḥarei Mot, Leviticus 16–18. This parsha describes how YHWH (ʾAdonai) explains to Moshe a ritual for Rosh Hashanah. Every year, the priest was to take two goats. The text describes one goat as designated for YHWH
and the other goat as designated for ʿAzazel.
The priest would cast lots for which designation the goat would receive. The lucky goat would then be sacrificed to YHWH as a sin offering, whereas the unlucky goat would be led into the wilderness and pushed off a cliff onto the jagged rocks below. This second goat shall be set alive before the LORD, to make atonement over him, to send him away for Azazel into the wilderness
(Leviticus 16:10, Jewish Publication Society Tanakh, 1917).
No one really knows what ʿAzazel means. Traditional English translations translate it as scapegoat
following William Tyndale's idea. The ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew (a translation called the Septuagint) translated it as one carrying away evil
(Greek apopompaios). However, the Hebrew has a clear parallelism between the lot designated for YHWH
and the other for ʿAzazel,
indicating that ʿAzazel is a personal entity.
In fact, ancient literature bears out the idea that it was a personal entity. In the apocryphal Book of Enoch, which was written before the time of Jesus, ʿAzazel appears as the name of one of the fallen angels. Apparently, the writer of the Hebrew text understood ʿAzazel to be some sort of demonic entity.
For that reason, most modern English translations no longer translate it as scapegoat,
but as Azazel,
the name the Hebrew text uses. Apparently, the Hebrews believed that one goat was dedicated to God while the other was given over to a demonic presence that abided in the wilderness.
The ritual consisted of the priest offering a bull as a sin offering and a ram as a burnt offering for himself; the priest offered the two goats on behalf of the Israelite community. The priest is to let the Azazel-goat left standing before the LORD, to make expiation with it and to send it off to the wilderness for Azazel
(Leviticus 16:10, Jewish Publication Society Tanakh, 1999). The Hebrew reads: yaʿamad-ḥai lifnei ʾAdonai kaper alaiv. Leshalaḥ ʾoto laʿAzazel hamidbarah, literally, standing before YHWH to cover upon it. To send it to Azazel in the wilderness.
The Hebrew word kaper, literally translated by English cover,
indicates that the goat atoned for the sins of the Israelite people. That same word can be translated into English as atonement
and, more fancily, as expiation.
Basically, the idea is that the sin is removed so that God no longer sees sin, but purity, so the relationship between God and humanity is repaired and made at-one.
Through a symbolic, ritual action, the goat bore their sins into the wilderness, outside the camp, so they no longer had to deal with them and could commune with God.
Later in the passage, we read that the priest was to take the Azazel-goat (after slaughtering the bull offering on his own behalf) and recite all of Israel's sins onto the goat. The text describes the ritual like this: Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat and confess over it all the iniquities and transgressions of the Israelites, whatever their sins, putting them on the head of the goat; and it shall be sent off to the wilderness through a designated man. Thus shall the goat carry on it all their iniquities to an inaccessible region; and the goat shall be set free in the wilderness
(Leviticus 16:21–22, Jewish Publication Society Tanakh, 1999). This goat becomes the sin-goat, bearing all the sins of the people into the wilderness, where Azazel dwells. By symbolically removing the sin and ritual impurity from the camp, the goat allows the camp to be a place of holiness, where God can then dwell. Now that their sins had been taken away, the next parsha of Leviticus expands on the idea of being God's holy people.
Since this reading falls on Pesach as well as Good Friday and Easter, I find an interesting parallel with this goat and Jesus. Just as the goat was led out of the camp into the wilderness, so Jesus was sacrificed outside the camp.
In fact, the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews makes this same point. So Jesus also suffered outside the gate,
the writer wrote, in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured
(Hebrews 13:13–14, English Standard Version). Just as the Azazel-goat carried the sins of the Israelite people outside the camp, so Jesus as the lamb of God took away all the sins of the people outside the walls of Jerusalem.
Since the camp, for the Israelites, had to be a place of holiness, where no ritual impurity resided (this parsha is followed by Kedoshim, Holy People
), and also the reasons menstruants and people with other flows had to leave the camp, so also the goat of sacrifice had to be outside the camp. Jesus was sacrificed outside the city walls of Jerusalem, thus not giving the city ritual impurity through blood-letting. Just as the goat effected expiation for the inhabitants of the camp, so Jesus's sacrifice to YHWH effected expiation for the inhabitants of Jerusalem and his followers. May the story of the Azazel-goat inspire us to continue our process of at-one-ment with God.
