5799. azazel

Lexical Summary

azazel: Azazel

Original Word: עֲזָאזֵל
Part of Speech: Noun Masculine
Transliteration: `aza'zel
Pronunciation: ah-zah-ZAYL
Phonetic Spelling: (az-aw-zale')
KJV: scapegoat
NASB: scapegoat
Word Origin: [from H5795 (עֵז - goat) and H235 (אָזַל - gone)]

1. goat of departure
2. the scapegoat

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance

scapegoat

From ez and 'azal; goat of departure; the scapegoat -- scapegoat.

see HEBREW ez

see HEBREW 'azal

NAS Exhaustive Concordance

Word Origin
from an unused word
Definition
entire removal
NASB Translation
scapegoat (4).

Brown-Driver-Briggs

עֲזָאזֵל noun [masculine] entire removal (reduplicated intensive (Ges^{§ 30} n. Sta^{§ 124 a}), abstract, √ [עזל] = Arabic remove, see Bähr^{Symb. ii. 668} Win^{ii. 659 ff.} Me Schenkel^{BL. i. 256}; > most, proper name of spirit haunting desert, Thes Di Dr^{Hastings, DB} [a fallen angel, Leviticus 16:8ff. being late, according to Che^{ZAW xv (1895), 153 ff., Ency. Bib.}, who derives from עזזאֿל; compare Benz^{Ency. Bib.}], as in Jewish angelology, where probably based on interpret. of Leviticus 16:8ff.; name not elsewhere); — ׳ע Leviticus 16:8,10 (twice in verse); Leviticus 16:26 in ritual of Day of Atonement, = entire removal of sin and guilt from sacred places into desert on back of goat, symbol of entire forgiveness.

Topical Lexicon

Canonical Setting

The name עֲזָאזֵל (Azazel) appears exclusively in the Day of Atonement legislation of Leviticus 16:8, 10, 10, 26. Two male goats are presented before the LORD at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting; lots are cast, “one lot for the LORD and the other for the scapegoat” (Leviticus 16:8). One goat is slain as a sin offering; the other is sent away alive “to Azazel in the wilderness” (Leviticus 16:10, lit.), bearing Israel’s transgressions to an uninhabited land.

Liturgical Function on the Day of Atonement

1. Sin Transfer: After offering the bull and first goat, the high priest lays both hands on the head of the living goat, confesses “all the iniquities of the Israelites and all their transgressions” (Leviticus 16:21), and symbolically transfers guilt to the animal.
2. Removal: The goat is then escorted outside the camp and released, demonstrating the complete removal of the people’s sins. “The goat shall carry on itself all their iniquities to a solitary place” (Leviticus 16:22).
3. Purification of the People and the Sanctuary: Together, the slain goat’s blood and the living goat’s banishment secure both propitiation before God and expiation from the community, providing a holistic picture of atonement.

Symbolic and Theological Significance

• Separation of Sin: The ritual dramatizes Psalm 103:12—“as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.”
• Corporate Cleansing: By acting on behalf of “the whole assembly of Israel” (Leviticus 16:17), the ceremony underscores the covenantal solidarity of God’s people.
• Divine Provision: Only by divine ordinance can sin be dealt with; human ingenuity contributes nothing but confession and faith.

Interpretive History

Ancient Jewish sources vary: some treat Azazel as the goat itself, others as the wilderness place, and still others as a demonic figure receiving the goat. Scripture, however, offers no hint of sacrifice to a rival power. The emphasis rests on the departure of sin, not on placating evil beings. Thus the text safeguards monotheistic worship while vividly illustrating the separation between a holy God and forgiven sinners.

Christological Typology

Hebrews 9 and Hebrews 10 view the entire Day of Atonement as a shadow fulfilled in Jesus Christ:
• He is both the High Priest who “entered the greater and more perfect tabernacle once for all” (Hebrews 9:11) and the sacrifice whose blood secures eternal redemption.
• He is likewise the sin bearer foreshadowed by the scapegoat: “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree” (1 Peter 2:24). The cross removes guilt, while the empty tomb and ascension guarantee that sin is gone, never to return.

Pastoral and Practical Implications

1. Assurance of Forgiveness: Believers may rest in God’s promise that confessed sin has been carried away.
2. Call to Holiness: Just as Israel watched the goat disappear, Christians are to “lay aside every encumbrance and the sin that so easily entangles” (Hebrews 12:1).
3. Community Restoration: Corporate confession and forgiveness foster unity and worship, echoing Israel’s collective cleansing.

Related Biblical Themes

• Wilderness as isolation (Leviticus 13:46; Matthew 4:1)
• Twofold atonement imagery: blood and removal (Isaiah 53:6; John 1:29)
• Divine forgetfulness of sin (Micah 7:19; Hebrews 8:12)

Summary

Azazel represents the dramatic removal of Israel’s guilt on the Day of Atonement, amplifying God’s mercy and pointing forward to the perfect, once-for-all atonement accomplished by Jesus Christ.

Forms and Transliterations

לַֽעֲזָאזֵ֔ל לַעֲזָאזֵ֔ל לַעֲזָאזֵ֖ל לַעֲזָאזֵֽל׃ לעזאזל לעזאזל׃ la‘ăzāzêl la·‘ă·zā·zêl laazaZel

Englishman's Concordance

Leviticus 16:8
HEB: וְגוֹרָ֥ל אֶחָ֖ד לַעֲזָאזֵֽל׃
NAS: and the other lot for the scapegoat.
KJV: and the other lot for the scapegoat.
INT: lot and the other the scapegoat

Leviticus 16:10
HEB: עָלָ֤יו הַגּוֹרָל֙ לַעֲזָאזֵ֔ל יָֽעֳמַד־ חַ֛י
NAS: the lot for the scapegoat fell
KJV: fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented
INT: and the lot the scapegoat shall be presented alive

Leviticus 16:10
HEB: לְשַׁלַּ֥ח אֹת֛וֹ לַעֲזָאזֵ֖ל הַמִּדְבָּֽרָה׃
NAS: it into the wilderness as the scapegoat.
KJV: with him, [and] to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness.
INT: upon to send as the scapegoat the wilderness

Leviticus 16:26
HEB: אֶת־ הַשָּׂעִיר֙ לַֽעֲזָאזֵ֔ל יְכַבֵּ֣ס בְּגָדָ֔יו
NAS: the goat as the scapegoat shall wash
KJV: the goat for the scapegoat shall wash
INT: released the goat as the scapegoat shall wash his clothes

4 Occurrences

Strong's Hebrew 5799
4 Occurrences

la·‘ă·zā·zêl — 4 Occ.