Mosaic Law and Jewish Lore about Azazel

Leviticus 16 provides much of the Mosaic Law for Yom Kippur/the Day of Atonement, the holiest day of the year in the Israelite religious calendar. In verses 8, 10, and 26, the Hebrew word traditionally translated in English as “the scapegoat” is Azazel. The passages in Hebrew literally mean “for Azazel,” not “for the Azazel” –

Leviticus 16:8 Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats [:5 for a sin offering]: one lot for YHWH, and one lot for Azazel. … 21 Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat [for Azazel], and confess over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions concerning all their sins, and put them upon the head of the goat; and he shall cast it out by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness… 26 …for Azazel.

Enoch 10:12 “All the earth has been corrupted by the teaching of the work of Azazel. To him therefore ascribe the whole crime.”  

[T]he goat designated for Azazel was given to the kohen [priest] assigned to lead it away into the wilderness. And when this kohen came to the designated ravine…he pushed the goat into the ravine. The Rabbinical Assembly, Machzor for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, 611.

This act at the ravine, which is not included in the instructions of Leviticus 16, was a custom from Jewish Oral Law that was added to the Yom Kippur ceremony, in order to commemorate Azazel’s being cast into the Abyss at the time of the Flood. Part 5 of this series will show how and when Azazel will be released from the Abyss.

The Abyss

Genesis 7:11 tells us that at the Flood, “all the fountains of the great deep were broken up.” The Book of Jasher 6:11 records that “the Lord caused the whole earth to shake, and the sun darkened, and the foundations of the world raged, and the whole earth was moved violently…” The Talmud, Sanhedrin 108b, records that “seven days before the Deluge, the Holy One changed the primeval order, and the sun rose in the west and set in the east”: that is, Earth turned over, physically reversing its poles. (See the article, “The Stars Will Fall from Heaven” = Pole Reversal?)

During these catastrophic events, great chasms were torn open in the earth’s surface, into which the rebellious angels were cast. Some people theorize that the great oceanic trenches, to over seven miles in depth, are remnants of these fissures. Africa’s Great Rift Valley is another such fissure; a branch of which extends northward up through the Red Sea, the Arabah, the Dead Sea, the Jordan River Valley, Lebanon, Syria, and into Turkey.

Coincidentally or not, one spot along this branch is where “the earth swallowed” Pharaoh’s army during the Exodus. Ex. 15:12 And then later, “the earth…swallowed up” the rebel Korah and his band just north of there “by the Way of the Red Sea.” Num. 16:32; Jasher 83:43 – 84:2

Next: The King of the Abyss.