Azazel

2 definitions found

From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:

  Azazel
     (Lev. 16:8, 10, 26, Revised Version only here; rendered
     "scape-goat" in the Authorized Version). This word has given
     rise to many different views. Some Jewish interpreters regard it
     as the name of a place some 12 miles east of Jerusalem, in the
     wilderness. Others take it to be the name of an evil spirit, or


     even of Satan. But when we remember that the two goats together
     form a type of Christ, on whom the Lord "laid the iniquity of us
     all," and examine into the root meaning of this word (viz.,
     "separation"), the interpretation of those who regard the one
     goat as representing the atonement made, and the other, that
     "for Azazel," as representing the effect of the great work of
     atonement (viz., the complete removal of sin), is certainly to
     be preferred. The one goat which was "for Jehovah" was offered
     as a sin-offering, by which atonement was made. But the sins
     must also be visibly banished, and therefore they were
     symbolically laid by confession on the other goat, which was
     then "sent away for Azazel" into the wilderness. The form of
     this word indicates intensity, and therefore signifies the total
     separation of sin: it was wholly carried away. It was important
     that the result of the sacrifices offered by the high priest
     alone in the sanctuary should be embodied in a visible
     transaction, and hence the dismissal of the "scape-goat." It was
     of no consequence what became of it, as the whole import of the
     transaction lay in its being sent into the wilderness bearing
     away sin. As the goat "for Jehovah" was to witness to the
     demerit of sin and the need of the blood of atonement, so the
     goat "for Azazel" was to witness to the efficacy of the
     sacrifice and the result of the shedding of blood in the taking
     away of sin.
     

From Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary (late 1800's) [hitchcock]:

  Azazel, the scape-goat