עֲזָאזֵל

From the study of Leviticus 16:8

Range of meaning

The word occurs only in Leviticus 16 (vv. 8, 10 twice, 26), so its meaning has to be worked out from this context, from related Semitic words and from ancient interpretation. Four main proposals: (1) a proper name of a supernatural being connected with the wilderness. HALOT and most recent commentators (e.g., Milgrom, Janowski in the Dictionary of Deities and Demons) favour this, mainly because 'for Azazel' exactly matches 'for YHWH'. (2) 'the goat that goes away', splitting the word into ʿēz 'goat' + ʾāzal 'go away'. This lies behind the Greek, Latin and English traditions. (3) a place name, 'the rugged/steep place', from the root ʿzz 'be strong, hard' (rabbinic tradition; G. R. Driver). (4) an abstract noun, 'entire removal' (BDB), so 'for dismissal'.

Against the English

KJV, NIV, NASB, BSB and WEB render 'scapegoat'. ESV, NRSV and the Jewish Publication Society keep 'Azazel'. YLT has 'a goat of departure'. 'Scapegoat' turns what is probably a name (the recipient or destination) into a description of the animal, and that breaks the 'for YHWH / for Azazel' parallel.

How it drifted

William Tyndale coined 'scapegoat' ('(e)scape-goat') in 1530. He was following the Latin caper emissarius ('the goat sent out') and the Greek tradition, which read the word as ʿēz + ʾāzal. From the 1800s the English word drifted into its modern sense of an innocent person blamed for others' faults, so the verse now sounds like it is about unfair blame.

Used elsewhere in the period

LXX: τῷ ἀποπομπαίῳ, 'to the one sent away' (the Greek word could also mean an 'averter' of evil), and in v. 10 εἰς τὴν ἀποπομπήν, 'for the sending away.' Aquila and Symmachus (2nd-century Greek versions): 'the goat released' / 'the goat departing.' Vulgate: capro emissario. Qumran: the Temple Scroll (11Q19 26:13) keeps 'for Azazel in the wilderness'; 4Q180 speaks of 'Azazel and the angels' who sinned. 1 Enoch 8–10: the fallen angel ʿAsaʾel (Greek Azael/Azazel) teaches humans forbidden arts. He is bound and thrown into a desert pit, and 'all sin' is written against him (10:4–8). The Aramaic spelling ʿšʾl differs, so this link may have developed later. Talmud (b. Yoma 67b): Azazel is 'the hardest/roughest of mountains'; a teaching in the school of R. Ishmael connects it with the fallen angels ʿUzza and ʿAzael. Apocalypse of Abraham (1st–2nd c. CE): Azazel is a Satan-like figure. The Samaritan spelling ʿzzʾl supports a name ending in -el.