The scapegoat to Azazel

Whether Azazel names a wilderness place, a demon, or the goat's own dismissal.

Leviticus 16:6-10

⁶“Aaron shall offer the bull of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make atonement for himself and for his house.

⁷He shall take the two goats, and set them before Yahweh at the door of the Tent of Meeting.

⁸Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats: one lot for Yahweh, and the other lot for the scapegoat.

⁹Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot fell for Yahweh, and offer him for a sin offering.

¹⁰But the goat on which the lot fell for the scapegoat shall be presented alive before Yahweh, to make atonement for him, to send him away as the scapegoat into the wilderness.

What each tradition says

Rabbinic / Midrashic

Rashi identifies Azazel as a precipitous and flinty rock. He describes it as a towering peak.

Rashi, Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary, trans. M. Rosenbaum and A. M. Silbermann (via the Sefaria API; served version 'Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934') — Rashi on Leviticus 16:8, on the word 'Azazel'

Rabbinic / Midrashic

Majority view

The source states that most modern scholars, after having for some time endorsed the old view, have accepted the opinion hinted by Ibn Ezra and expressly stated by Naḥmanides: Azazel belongs to the class of se'irim, goat-like demons or jinn haunting the desert, to which the Israelites were wont to offer sacrifice.

Morris Jastrow, Jr., J. Frederic McCurdy, Kaufmann Kohler, Marcus Jastrow, Isaac Husik, Azazel (Jewish Encyclopedia, 1901-1906) — 'In Biblical, Apocryphal, and Rabbinical Literature' — the Naḥmanides / Ibn Ezra reading

Patristic

Justin Martyr reads the two goats of the fast as declaring the two appearances of Christ. The goat sent away as the scapegoat, while the other was sacrificed, declared the first appearance: the elders and priests laid hands on Christ, put Him to death, and sent Him away as the scapegoat.

Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho, ch. 40 (ANF vol. 1, ed. Roberts & Donaldson) — Dialogue with Trypho, ch. 40 — the two goats of the fast as the two appearances of Christ

Catholic

Haydock calls the emissary-goat the scape-goat, in Hebrew Hazazel. On its head the high priest poured prayers and confessed the people's sins, then sent it into the wilderness to be devoured by wild beasts. This goat was a figure of the Savior, charged with all our sins in his passion.

George Leo Haydock, George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary (1859) — Note on Leviticus 16:8 ('the emissary-goat')

Orthodox

No sourced position found. Checked the ANF volumes fetched (ANF 1, 3, 5, 7 — Barnabas, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Cyprian, Hippolytus, the Didache and the Apostolic Constitutions) and the NPNF volumes on hand (Chrysostom on Matthew, Acts/Romans, 1-2 Corinthians and John/Hebrews; Augustine on the Psalms; Athanasius; Cyril of Jerusalem; the Seven Ecumenical Councils) for 'Azazel'/'scapegoat': the only Eastern-relevant hits are a Valentinian poem quoted by Irenaeus (ANF 1 — 'Azazel, that fallen and yet mighty angel', a Gnostic system, not Lev 16 exegesis) and an ANF 3 editorial note quoting a Cyril of Alexandria fragment (the father's text is not on the page). Philaret's Longer Catechism (pravoslavieto.com) has no Azazel or Lev 16 material. No citable public-domain Eastern statement on the name found.

Reformed / Protestant

Calvin does not doubt that Azazel designates the place to which the scapegoat was driven. He says it is a compound word equivalent to "the departure of the goat," which the Greeks translated apopompaion, though he cannot say whether that translation is proper.

John Calvin, Commentary on the Four Last Books of Moses, Arranged in the Form of a Harmony (Harmony of the Law), vol. 2 (trans. Charles William Bingham; Calvin Translation Society) — Commentary on Leviticus 16:10 ('and let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness') — on the word Azazel

Evangelical

Wesley notes the goat was neglected by all and exposed to wild beasts, which might signify Christ forsaken by God and men, including his disciples, and his many dangers and sufferings. He also reports that the Jews say the goat was carried to a mountain called Azazel, from which it was cast down headlong.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament — Notes on Leviticus 16:22