¹ Several commentaries on Leviticus give an overview of the various interpretations proposed for the word Azazel. For a succinct summary, see J. MILGROM, Leviticus 1–16 (AB 3; New York 1991) 1020-1021; G.J. WENHAM, The Book of Leviticus (NICOT 3; Grand Rapids 1979) 234-235; D.P. WRIGHT, "Azazel", Anchor Bible Dictionary (New York 1992) I, 536-537; B. JANOWSKI, "Azazel", Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible (ed. K. VAN DER TOORN – B. BECKING – P.W. VAN DER HORST) (Leiden 1995) 240-248. For an excellent, but more elaborate and detailed overview, see B. JANOWSKI – G. WILHELM, "Der Bock, der die Sünden hinausträgt. Zur Religionsgeschichte des Azazel-Ritus Lev 16,10.21f", Religionsgeschichtliche Beziehungen zwischen Kleinasien, Nordsyrien und dem Alten Testament. Internationales Symposion Hamburg 17.-21. März 1990 (ed. B. JANOWSKI – K. KLAUS – G. WILHELM) (OBO 129; Freiburg – Göttingen 1993) 109-169.

² The Qal masculine singular participle of the verb lz) ‘to depart’ occurs also in Prov 20,14.

³ MILGROM, Leviticus 1–16, 1020; WENHAM, Leviticus, 234; WRIGHT, "Azazel", 536.

⁴ H. TAWIL, "Azazel the Prince of the Steepe: A Comparative Study", ZAW 92 (1980) 44.

⁵ In order to justify the possibility of a formative lamed, Driver draws attention to the Akkadian word karmu ‘ruined heap’ and the Hebrew word Mrk ‘terraced land’ from which the name lmrk ‘Carmel’ is derived. See G.R. DRIVER, "Three Technical Terms in the Pentateuch", JSS 1 (1956) 97-98.

⁶ BDB, 481; D. HOFFMAN, Das Buch Leviticus 1–11 (Berlin 1905/1906) 444.

⁷ WRIGHT, "Azazel", 536.

⁸ MILGROM, Leviticus 1–16, 1020-1021; JANOWSKI – WILHELM, "Der Bock, der die Sünden hinausträgt", 113-133. R. Helm, referring to BDB, makes the interesting observation that the Hebrew word ry(# used in Leviticus 16 in reference to the goat can mean both male goat and demon. See R. HELM, "Azazel in Early Jewish Tradition", AUSS (1994) 221. This identification naturally leads to the image of a demon in the form of a goat. The interpretation of Azazel as a demon-goat has been proposed by several scholars, including: T. STAUBLI, Das Image der Nomaden im Alten Israel und in der Ikonographie seiner sesshaften Nachbarn (OBO 107; Freiburg – Göttingen 1991) 177; H. WOHLSTEIN, "Zur Tier-Dämonologie der Bibel", ZDMG 113 (1963) 487.

⁹ TAWIL, "Azazel the Prince", 58-59.

¹⁰ JANOWSKI – WILHELM, "Der Bock, der die Sünden hinausträgt", 109-169. A great variety of theses have been proposed concerning the identity of the character Azazel and the understanding of the Azazel ritual. Janowski and Wilhelm classify them as three groups: the nomadic, the Egyptian and the South Anatolian-North Syrian models. Examples of proponents of the nomadic model are: H. DUHM, Die böser Geister im Alten Testament (Tübingen – Leipzig 1904) 56; K. ELLIGER, Leviticus (HAT I/4; Tübingen 1966) 212;L. ROST, "Weidewechsel und altisraelitischer Festkalender", Das Kleine Credo und andere Studien zum Alten Testament (ed. L. ROST) (Heidelberg 1965) 101-112; A. STROBEL, "Das jerusalemische Sündenbock-Ritual. Topographische und landeskundliche Erwägungen zur Überlieferungsgeschichte von Lev. 16,10.21f.", ZDPV 103 (1987) 141-168; W. THIEL, Die soziale Entwicklung Israels in vorstaatlicher Zeit (Neukirchen-Vluyn 1985) 46. An Egyptian model was proposed by M. GÖRG, "Beobachtungen zum sogenannten Azazel-Ritus", BN 33 (1986) 10-16. Proponents of the South Anatolian-North Syrian model are: H.M. KÜMMEL, "Ersatzkönig und Sündenbock", ZAW 80 (1968) 289-318; JANOWSKI – WILHELM, "Der Bock, der die Sünden hinausträgt", 129-162; D.P. WRIGHT, The Disposal of Impurity. Elimination Rites in the Bible and in Hittite and Mesopotamian Literature (SBLDS 101; Atlanta 1987) 15-74.

¹¹ S.B. HOENIG, "The New Qumran Pesher on Azazel", JQR (1965/1966) 248-253; TAWIL, "Azazel the Prince", 58-59; JANOWSKI, "Azazel", 240-241; S.M. OLYAN, A Thousand Thousands Serve Him. Exegesis and the Naming of Angels in Ancient Judaism (TSAJ 36; Tübingen 1993) 110.

¹² See Deut 4,35.39; 1 Kgs 8,60; Isa 45,5.14.18.21. The ‘other gods’ are merely graven images of wood and stone (Deut 28,36; 2 Kgs 17,37-41). In Isa 41,21-29, the worship of the other gods beside YHWH is ridiculed, because they are simply images which are unable to either speak or act.

¹³ E.g., Gen 33,20; Num 23,8; 2 Sam 23,5; Ps 118,27; Job 5,8; Isa 7,14; 40,18; Hos 11,9. For many more examples, see BDB, 42-43; W.L. HOLLADAY, A Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament (Leiden – Grand Rapids 1991 [1971]) 15-16.

¹⁴ The cognate verb ezêzu in Assyrian means ‘to be furious’. See BDB, 738.

¹⁵ E.g., Deut 28,50; Ps 59,4; Eccl 8,1; Isa 19,4; 42,25; Dan 8,23.

¹⁶ Likewise, in Qumran literature, the words xwk and hrwbg, whose basic sense is ‘strength, might’, are used as an expression of divine anger, clearly standing in parallel to hmx ‘wrath’ and taking on the same meaning: ‘He (God) is very patient and forgiving, covering the sin of those who repent of wrongdoing, but raging strength (xwk), furious might (hrwbg), and great wrath in the flames of fire with all the angels of destruction shall come against all who rebel against the proper way and who despise the law, until they are without remnant or survivor’ (CD 2,4-7). Translation (slightly altered) by E.M. COOK, "The Damascus Document. Geniza A + B, 4Q266-272", The Dead Sea Scrolls. A New Translation (ed. M.O. WISE – M.G. ABEGG, JR – E.M. COOK) (San Francisco 1996) 52-53.

¹⁷ In Ps 68,28-30, God’s power (z() is also clearly described as an expression of rightful anger, a form of holy vengeance: ‘Summon your might (z(), O God; show your strength, O God, as you have done for us before [...]. Rebuke the wild animals that live among the reeds, the herd of bulls with the calves of the peoples. Trample under foot those who lust after tribute; scatter the peoples who delight in war’. The close association between z( and anger is also evident from Prov 21,14: ‘A gift in secret averts anger; and a bribe in the bosom, fierce wrath (hz(  hmx)’.

¹⁸ Here the parallelism suggests that zwz( is used as a synonym for hmx.

¹⁹ Unlike its synonym z(, the noun zwz( does not occur frequently in the Hebrew Bible, only three times (Ps 78,4; 145,6; Isa 42,25). Two of these occurrences are in construct, spelled as zwz(. However, there are not enough occurrences in the Hebrew Bible to conclude that zwz( could not have been contracted to z(.

²⁰ Concerning zz( JANOWSKI –WILHELM, "Der Bock, der die Sünden hinausträgt", 158, comment: ‘Im Westsemitischen, so im Ugaritischen und Hebräischen, bezeichnet die Wurzel ebenfalls oft eine göttliche Qualität, die aber nicht in der Weise des Akkadischen negativ festgelegt ist, sondern auf die Macht und Stärke abhebt, die sich freilich auch hart und zornig veräußern kann’. Yet Janowski and Wilhelm do not give any evidence in support of the idea that z( or zz( can express God’s powerful wrath, as I have attempted to do above.

²¹ In BDB the following meanings for rpk are listed: 1. ‘to cover over, pacify, make propitiation’; 2. ‘to cover over, atone for sin’, without sacrifices; 3. ‘to cover over, atone for sin and persons by legal rites’ (497-498).

²² P.J. BUDD, Numbers (WBC 5; Waco 1984) 196.

²³ Contra WRIGHT, Disposal of Impurity, 49, who states that in Leviticus 16, ‘there is no angry deity to appease’. He views this as one of the main differences between the Hittite rites and the ‘goat for Azazel’ ritual, while comparing the latter to the former.

²⁴ The transference of sin has already been observed by MILGROM, Leviticus 1–16, 1042.

²⁵ Contrast WRIGHT, Disposal of Impurity, 49, who does not view the goat as the object of God’s wrath, but merely as ‘a transporter of impurity’. Again, Wright sees this as an important difference between the Hittite rites and the ‘goat for Azazel’-ritual.

²⁶ In late Midrash this identification is also made. For a discussion, see TAWIL, "Azazel the Prince", 46-47.

²⁷ TAWIL, "Azazel the Prince", 52-53, 58-59.

²⁸ In the Hebrew Bible, names can describe people’s character. A humorous example is found in 1 Sam 25,25 where Abigail excuses her husband and explains to David: ‘As his name is, so is he; Nabal (lbn) is his name, and folly is with him’. However, at times a name signifies a person’s destiny. For instance, the name Hannah (hnx) clearly symbolizes God’s grace which he bestows on her by giving her a child (1 Sam 1–2, see especially 1,17-18 where the noun Nx ‘grace’ occurs).

²⁹ P.D. HANSON, "Rebellion in Heaven, Azazel, and Euhemeristic Heroes in 1 Enoch 6–11", JBL 96 (1977) 222.

³⁰ Translation of the Ethiopic version of Enoch by E. ISAAC, "I (Ethiopic Apocalypse of) Enoch", The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha (ed. J.H. CHARLESWORTH) (London 1983), I, 17-18. Isaac also refers to the Greek fragments.

³¹ This has already been observed by L.L. GRABBE, "The Scapegoat Tradition: A Study in Early Jewish Interpretation", JSJ 18 (1987) 161-163. It should not surprise us that both the author of the Epistle of Barnabas and Tertullian identify the second goat with Christ, because in the New Testament Christ is spoken of as bearing the sins of the people (see Heb 9,28).

³² Adv. Marc. 3.7.7; Adv. Jud. 14.9 (cf. TERTULLIANUS, Adversus Marcionem. Ed. and transl. by E. Evans [OECT; Oxford 1972] 191).

³³ For a succinct overview on these issues, see J.C. TREAT, "Epistle of Barnabas", ABD (New York 1992) I, 611-614.

³⁴ G.E. LADD, A Theology of the New Testament (Grand Rapids 1989 [1974]) 191.

³⁵ It is beyond the scope of this article to discuss the meaning of i(lasth/rion which is very controversial and has been the subject of much debate. C.H. Dodd is well-known for his refutation of the idea that i(lasth/rion in Rom 3,24-25 means ‘propitiation’. He suggests the rendering ‘expiation’, the removal of guilt or defilement. See C.H. DODD, The Bible and the Greeks (London 1935) 82-95. Several scholars have examined and refuted Dodd’s interpretation of i(lasth/rion, including: L.L. MORRIS, The Apostolic Preaching of the Cross (London 1955) 125-185; ID., "The Meaning of Hilasterion in Romans 3:25", NTS 2 (1955) 33-43; ID., "The Use of Hilaskesthai in Biblical Greek", ExpTim 62 (1950-1951) 233; R. NICOLE, "C.H. Dodd and the Doctrine of Propitiation", WTJ 17 (1955) 117-157. For brief and succinct overviews on the issue, see J.A. FITZMYER, S.J., Romans. A new translation with introduction and commentary (AB 33; London 1993) 349-350; LADD, Theology, 429-433.