11/27/2009 Azazel - Wikipedia, the fre…

[Hide]

Wikipedia is there when you need it —

now it needs you.
$1.4M USD $7.5M USD
Donate Now

Azazel
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

For other uses, see Azazel (disambiguation).

A depiction of Azazel in his familiar form of

C:/…/Azazel%20-%20Wiki… 1/18
11/27/2009 Azazel - Wikipedia, the fre…
a goat-like demon, from Collin de Plancy's
Dictionnaire Infernal (Paris,1825).

Azazel (Hebrew: ‫עזאזל‬, Azazel, Aramaic: ‫רמשנאל‬,[citation needed]

Arabic: ‫ ﻋﺰازل‬Azazil) is an enigmatic name from the Hebrew
scriptures and Apocrypha, where the name is used
interchangeably with Rameel and Gadriel[citation needed]. The
word's first appearance is in Leviticus 16, where a goat is
designated "for Azazel" and outcast in the desert as part of Yom
Kippur.

According to the Jewish sage Rashi Azazel is a strong and hard

mountain, [with] a high cliff, as the Jewish bible says [in
describing Azazel] Leviticus 16:22: “a precipitous land (‫)רֶ ץ גְּ זֵ רָ ה‬,”
ֶ‫א‬
meaning a cut-off land [i.e., a sheer drop]. — [Torath Kohanim
16:28; Yoma 67b]" Judaica Press Translation.

Other religions think that Azazel was a supernatural being

mentioned in connection with the ritual of the Day of Atonement
(Lev. xvi.). Some Christians believe that he is a fore-runner to
Satan, for whom he was in some degree a preparation. This is
not Jewish teaching. In Judaism the Hebrew word [Satan] simply
means "adversary" and refers to humans and angels who stand
as adversaries to humans, not to God. In Judaism God has no
adversary. Is there any sort of Purgatory or Satan in Jewish
teachings?

Contents
1 Etymology
2 In the Hebrew Bible and Rabbinical literature
C:/…/Azazel%20-%20Wiki… 2/18
11/27/2009 Azazel - Wikipedia, the fre…
2.1 Biblical Verse
2.2 The Name
2.3 The Rite
2.4 In Biblical, Apocryphal, and Rabbinical Literature
2.5 Personification of Impurity
2.6 Leader of the Rebellious Angels
2.7 Bibliography
3 In First Enoch
4 In the Apocalypse of Abraham
5 Dictionnaire Infernal
6 Modern Satanism
7 Literary references
8 See also
9 References

[edit] Etymology
The name itself is a combination of the words "Azaz (rugged)
and el (power/strong/of God)" in reference to the rugged and
strong rocks of the deserts in Judea. According to Talmudic
interpretation, the term "Azazel" designated a rugged mountain
or precipice in the wilderness from which the goat was thrown
down, using for it as an alternative the word "Ẓoḳ" () (Yoma vi. 4).
An etymology is found to suit this interpretation. "Azazel"() is
regarded as a compound of "az" (), strong or rough, and "el" (),
mighty, therefore a strong mountain. This derivation is presented
by a Baraita, cited Yoma 67b, that Azazel was the strongest of
mountains.[1]

The ancient rabbis, interpreting "Azazel" as Azaz ("rugged"), and

e l ("strong"), refer it to the rugged and rough mountain cliff from
C:/…/Azazel%20-%20Wiki… 3/18
11/27/2009 Azazel - Wikipedia, the fre…
which the scapegoat was cast down on Yom Kippur when the
Jewish Temples in Jerusalem stood. (Yoma 67b; Sifra, Aḥare, ii. 2;
Targum Jerusalem Lev. xiv. 10, and most medieval
commentators). Most modern scholars, after having for some
time endorsed the old view, have accepted the opinion
mysteriously hinted at by Ibn Ezra and expressly stated by
Nachmanides to Lev. xvi. 8, that Azazel belongs to the class of
"se'irim," goat-like demons, jinn haunting the desert, to which
the Israelites were wont to offer sacrifice. [2]

[edit] In the Hebrew Bible and

Rabbinical literature
[edit] Biblical Verse

Leviticus 16:8-10: "8and Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats,
one lot for the Lord and the other lot for Azazel. 9And Aaron shall
present the goat on which the lot fell for the Lord, and offer it as
a sin offering; 10but the goat on which the lot fell for Azazel shall
be presented alive before the Lord to make atonement over it,
that it may be sent away into the wilderness to Azazel."

[edit] The Name

According to Talmudical interpretation, the term "Azazel"

designated a rugged mountain or precipice in the wilderness
from which the goat was thrown down, using for it as an
alternative the word "Ẓoḳ" ( ) (Yoma vi. 4). An etymology is found
to suit this interpretation. "Azazel"( ) is regarded as a compound
of "az" ( ), strong or rough, and "el" ( ), mighty, therefore a strong
mountain. This derivation is presented by a Baraita, cited Yoma
C:/…/Azazel%20-%20Wiki… 4/18
11/27/2009 Azazel - Wikipedia, the fre…
67b, that Azazel was the strongest of mountains. Another
etymology (ib.) connects the word with the mythological "Uza"
and "Azael," the fallen angels, to whom a reference is believed to
be found in Gen. vi. 2, 4. In accordance with this etymology, the
sacrifice of the goat atones for the sin of fornication of which
those angels were guilty (Gen. l.c.).

[edit] The Rite

Two goats were procured, similar in respect of appearance,

height, cost, and time of selection. Having one of these on his
right and the other on his left (Rashi on Yoma 39a), the high
priest, who was assisted in this rite by two subordinates, put
both his hands into a wooden case, and took out two labels, one
inscribed "for the Lord" and the other "for Azazel." The high
priest then laid his hands with the labels upon the two goats and
said, "A sin-offering to the Lord" using the Tetragrammaton; and
the two men accompanying him replied, "Blessed be the name of
His glorious kingdom for ever and ever." He then fastened a
scarlet woolen thread to the head of the goat "for Azazel"; and
laying his hands upon it again, recited the following confession
of sin and prayer for forgiveness: "O Lord, I have acted
iniquitously, trespassed, sinned before Thee: I, my household,
and the sons of Aaron Thy holy ones. O Lord, forgive the
iniquities, transgressions, and sins that I, my household, and
Aaron's children Thy holy people committed before Thee, as is
written in the law of Moses, Thy servant, 'for on this day He will
forgive you, to cleanse you from all your sins before the Lord; ye
shall be clean.'" This prayer was responded to by the
congregation present. A man was selected, preferably a priest, to
take the goat to the precipice in the wilderness; and he was
accompanied part of the way by the most eminent men of
C:/…/Azazel%20-%20Wiki… 5/18
11/27/2009 Azazel - Wikipedia, the fre…
Jerusalem. Ten booths had been constructed at intervals along
the road leading from Jerusalem to the steep mountain. At each
one of these the man leading the goat was formally offered food
and drink, which he, however, refused. When he reached the
tenth booth those who accompanied him proceeded no further,
but watched the ceremony from a distance. When he came to the
precipice he divided the scarlet thread into two parts, one of
which he tied to the rock and the other to the goat's horns, and
then pushed the goat down (Yoma vi. 1-8). The cliff was so high
and rugged that before the goat had traversed half the distance
to the plain below, its limbs were utterly shattered. Men were
stationed at intervals along the way, and as soon as the goat was
thrown down the precipice, they signaled to one another by
means of kerchiefs or flags, until the information reached the
high priest, whereat he proceeded with the other parts of the
ritual.

The scarlet thread is symbolically referenced in Isa. i. 18; and the

Talmud states (ib. 39a) that during the forty years that Simon the
Just was high priest, the thread actually turned white as soon as
the goat was thrown over the precipice: a sign that the sins of the
people were forgiven. In later times the change to white was not
invariable: a proof of the people's moral and spiritual
deterioration, that was gradually on the increase, until forty years
before the destruction of the Second Temple, when the change
of color was no longer observed (l.c. 39b).[3]

[edit] In Biblical, Apocryphal, and Rabbinical

Literature

The Rabbis, interpreting "Azazel" as "Azaz" (rugged), and "el"

(strong or God), refer it to the rugged and rough mountain cliff
C:/…/Azazel%20-%20Wiki… 6/18
11/27/2009 Azazel - Wikipedia, the fre…
from which the goat was cast down (Yoma 67b; Sifra, Aḥare, ii. 2;
Targ. Yer. Lev. xiv. 10, and most medieval commentators).Most
modern scholars, after having for some time endorsed the old
view, have accepted the opinion mysteriously hinted at by Ibn
Ezra and expressly stated by Naḥmanides to Lev. xvi. 8, that
Azazel belongs to the class of "se'irim," goat-like demons, jinn
haunting the desert, to which the Israelites were wont to offer
sacrifice (Lev. xvii. 7 [A. V. "devils"]). (Compare "the roes and the
hinds," Cant. ii. 7, iii. 5, by which Sulamith administers an oath to
the daughters of Jerusalem. The critics were probably thinking of
a Roman faun.)

[edit] Personification of Impurity

Far from involving the recognition of Azazel as a deity, the

sending of the goat was, as stated by Nachmanides, a symbolic
expression of the idea that the people's sins and their evil
consequences were to be sent back to the spirit of desolation
and ruin, the source of all impurity. The very fact that the two
goats were presented before God before the one was sacrificed
and the other sent into the wilderness, was proof that Azazel was
not ranked with God, but regarded simply as the personification
of wickedness in contrast with the righteous government of God.
The rite, resembling, on the one hand, the sending off of the
epha with the woman embodying wickedness in its midst to the
land of Shinar in the vision of Zachariah (v. 6-11), and, on the
other, the letting loose of the living bird into the open field in the
case of the leper healed from the plague (Lev. xiv. 7), was, indeed,
viewed by the people of Jerusalem as a means of ridding
themselves of the sins of the year. So would the crowd, called
Babylonians or Alexandrians, pull the goat's hair to make it
hasten forth, carrying the burden of sins away with it (Yoma vi. 4,
C:/…/Azazel%20-%20Wiki… 7/18
11/27/2009 Azazel - Wikipedia, the fre…
66b; "Epistle of Barnabas," vii.), and the arrival of the shattered
animal at the bottom of the valley of the rock of Bet Ḥadudo,
twelve miles away from the city, was signalized by the waving of
shawls to the people of Jerusalem, who celebrated the event with
boisterous hilarity and amid dancing on the hills (Yoma vi. 6, 8;
Ta'an. iv. 8). Evidently the figure of Azazel was an object of
general fear and awe rather than, as has been conjectured, a
foreign product or the invention of a late lawgiver. More as a
demon of the desert, it seems to have been closely interwoven
with the mountainous region of Jerusalem.[4]

[edit] Leader of the Rebellious Angels

This is confirmed by the Book of Enoch, which brings Azazel into

connection with the Biblical story of the fall of the angels,
located, obviously in accordance with ancient folk-lore, on Mount
Hermon as a sort of an old Semitic Blocksberg, a gathering-place
of demons from of old (Enoch xiii.; compare Brandt, "Mandäische
Theologie," 1889, p. 38). Azazel is represented in the Book of
Enoch as the leader of the rebellious giants in the time preceding
the flood; he taught men the art of warfare, of making swords,
knives, shields, and coats of mail, and women the art of
deception by ornamenting the body, dyeing the hair, and
painting the face and the eyebrows, and also revealed to the
people the secrets of witchcraft and corrupted their manners,
leading them into wickedness and impurity; until at last he was,
at the Lord's command, bound hand and foot by the archangel
Raphael and chained to the rough and jagged rocks of [Ha]
Duduael (= Beth Ḥadudo), where he is to abide in utter darkness
until the great Day of Judgment, when he will be cast into the fire
to be consumed forever (Enoch viii. 1, ix. 6, x. 4-6, liv. 5, lxxxviii. 1;
see Geiger, "Jüd. Zeit." 1864, pp. 196–204).
C:/…/Azazel%20-%20Wiki… 8/18
11/27/2009 Azazel - Wikipedia, the fre…

The story of Azazel as the seducer of men and women was

familiar also to the rabbis, as may be learned from Tanna d. b. R.
Yishma'el: "The Azazel goat was to atone for the wicked deeds of
'Uzza and 'Azzael, the leaders of the rebellious hosts in the time
of Enoch" (Yoma 67b); and still better from Midrash Abkir, end,
Yalḳ., Gen. 44, where Azazel is represented as the seducer of
women, teaching them the art of beautifying the body by dye
and paint (compare "Chronicles of Jerahmeel," trans. by Moses
Gaster, xxv. 13). According to Pirḳe R. El. xlvi. (comp. Tos. Meg.
31a), the goat is offered to Azazel as a bribe that he who is
identical with Samael or Satan should not by his accusations
prevent the atonement of the sins on that day.

The fact that Azazel occupied a place in Mandæan, Sabean, and

Arabian mythology (see Brandt, "Mandäische Theologie," pp.
197, 198; Norberg's "Onomasticon," p. 31; Adriaan Reland's "De
Religione Mohammedanarum," p. 89; Kamus, s.v. "Azazel"
[demon identical with Satan]; Delitzsch, "Zeitsch. f. Kirchl.
Wissensch. u. Leben," 1880, p. 182), renders it probable that
Azazel was a degraded Babylonian deity. Origen ("Contra
Celsum," vi. 43) identifies Azazel with Satan; Pirḳe R. El. (l.c.) with
Samael; and the Zohar Aḥare Mot, following Naḥmanides, with
the spirit of Esau or heathenism; still, while one of the chief
demons in the Cabala, he never attained in the doctrinal system
of Judaism a position similar to that of Satan.[5]

[edit] Bibliography

Cheyne, Dictionary of the Bible;

Hastings, Dict. Bibl., Riehm, H. W. B.;
Hamburger, R. B. T. i. s.v.K.
Hauck, R. E.;
C:/…/Azazel%20-%20Wiki… 9/18
11/27/2009 Azazel - Wikipedia, the fre…
Kahisch, Comm. on Leviticus, ii. 293 et seq., 326 et seq.;
Winer, B. R.;

[edit] In First Enoch

The whole earth has been corrupted through the
“ works that were taught by Azazel: to him ascribe
all sin.
”
— 1 Enoch 10:8

According to 1 Enoch (a book of the Apocrypha), Azazel (here

spelled ‘ăzā’zyēl) was one of the chief Grigori, a group of fallen
angels who married women. This same story (without any
mention of Azazel) is told in Genesis 6:2-4:

That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they
were fair; and they took them wives of all which they
chose. […] There were giants in the earth in those days; and
also afterward, when the sons of God came in unto the
daughters of men, and they bore children to them, the
same became mighty men which were of old, men of
renown.

1 Enoch portrays Azazel as responsible for teaching people to

make weapons and cosmetics, for which he was cast out of
heaven. 1 Enoch 8:1-3a reads:

And Azazel taught men to make swords and knives and

shields and breastplates; and made known to them the
metals [of the earth] and the art of working them; and
bracelets and ornaments; and the use of antimony and the
beautifying of the eyelids; and all kinds of costly stones and
C:/…/Azazel%20-%20Wiki… 10/18
11/27/2009 Azazel - Wikipedia, the fre…
all colouring tinctures. And there arose much godlessness,
and they committed fornication, and they were led astray
and became corrupt in all their ways.

The corruption brought on by Azazel and the Grigori degrades

the human race, and the four archangels (Michael, Gabriel,
Raphael, and Uriel) “saw much blood being shed upon the earth
and all lawlessness being wrought upon the earth […] The souls
of men [made] their suit, saying, "Bring our cause before the
Most High; […] Thou seest what Azazel hath done, who hath
taught all unrighteousness on earth and revealed the eternal
secrets which were in heaven, which men were striving to learn."

God sees the sin brought about by Azazel and has Raphael “bind
Azazel hand and foot and cast him into the darkness: and make
an opening in the desert — which is in Dudael — and cast him
therein. And place upon him rough and jagged rocks, and cover
him with darkness, and let him abide there forever, and cover his
face that he may not see light.”

Raphael's binding of Azazel on the desert rocks of Dudael in

upper Egypt appears again in the Book of Tobit, which is found in
Catholic and Orthodox bibles, but not in Jewish or most
Protestant bibles. In that Book (the only place in Christian bibles
where Raphael appears) he accompanies the young man Tobias
on his perilous journey to marry his cousin Sarah, whose seven
previous husbands had been killed on her wedding night by the
demon Asmodeus (also known as Asmodai) (a variant of which story
is possibly what the Sadducees are using to try to trap Jesus about marriage
in the resurrection they disbelieved in, in Matt. 22:27-28, Mark 12:18-23, and
Luke 20:29-32). Raphael
saves Tobias from the same fate by
showing him how to deal with that demon, too.

C:/…/Azazel%20-%20Wiki… 11/18
11/27/2009 Azazel - Wikipedia, the fre…
Azazel's fate is foretold near the end of 1 Enoch 2:8, where God
says, “On the day of the great judgement he shall be cast into the
fire. […] The whole earth has been corrupted through the works
that were taught by Azazel: to him ascribe all sin."

In 3 Enoch, Azazel is one of the three angels (Azza [Shemhazai]

and Uzza [Ouza] are the other two) who opposed Enoch's high
rank when he became the angel Metatron. Whilst they were
fallen at this time they were still in Heaven, but Metatron held a
dislike for them, and had them cast out. They were thenceforth
known as the 'three who got the most blame' for their
involvement in the fall of the angels marrying women. It should
be remembered that Azazel and Shemhazai were said to be the
leaders of the 200 fallen, and Uzza and Shemhazai were tutelary
guardian angels of Egypt with both Shemhazai and Azazel and
were responsible for teaching the secrets of heaven as well. The
other angels dispersed to 'every corner of the Earth.'

[edit] In the Apocalypse of Abraham

In the extracanonical text the Apocalypse of Abraham, Azazel is
portrayed as an unclean bird who came down upon the sacrifice
which Abraham prepared. (This is in reference to Genesis 15:11:
"Birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove
them away" [NIV]).

And the unclean bird spoke to me and said, "What are you
doing, Abraham, on the holy heights, where no one eats or
drinks, nor is there upon them food for men? But these all
will be consumed by fire and ascend to the height, they will
destroy you."

C:/…/Azazel%20-%20Wiki… 12/18
11/27/2009 Azazel - Wikipedia, the fre…
And it came to pass when I saw the bird speaking I said this
to the angel: "What is this, my lord?" And he said, "This is
disgrace — this is Azazel!" And he said to him, "Shame on
you, Azazel! For Abraham's portion is in heaven, and yours
is on earth, for you have selected here, [and] become
enamored of the dwelling place of your blemish. Therefore
the Eternal Ruler, the Mighty One, has given you a dwelling
on earth. Through you the all-evil spirit [was] a liar, and
through you [come] wrath and trials on the generations of
men who live impiously.

— Abr. 13:4-9

He is also associated with the serpent (Satan) and hell. In Chapter

23, verse 7, he is described as having seven heads, 14 faces,
"hands and feet like a man's [and] on his back six wings on the
right and six on the left."

Abraham says that the wicked will "putrefy in the belly of the
crafty worm Azazel, and be burned by the fire of Azazel's
tongue" (Abr. 31:5), and earlier says to Azazel himself, "May you
be the firebrand of the furnace of the earth! Go, Azazel, into the
untrodden parts of the earth. For your heritage is over those who
are with you" (Abr. 14:5-6).

Here there is the idea that God's heritage (the created world) is
largely under the dominion of evil — i.e., it is "shared with
Azazel" (Abr. 20:5), again identifying him with Satan, who is also
"the prince of this world" (John 12:31, NIV).

[edit] Dictionnaire Infernal

Collin de Plancy's Dictionnaire Infernal (1863) describes Azazel
C:/…/Azazel%20-%20Wiki… 13/18
11/27/2009 Azazel - Wikipedia, the fre…
as the guardian of goats. On the 10th day of Tishri, on the feast
of the Expiation, it was Jewish custom to draw lots for two goats:
one for the Lord and the other for Azazel. The goat for the Lord
was then sacrificed and its blood served as atonement. With the
goat for Azazel, the high priest would place both of his hands on
the goat's head and confess both his sins and the sins of the
people. The goat ("scapegoate") was then led into the desert and
set free. Azazel then returned the goat. Milton described Azazel
as the first gate-teacher of the infernal armies.

[edit] Modern Satanism

Azazel is revered as a physical/spiritual deity by many
Theistic/Spiritual Satanic groups as a Promethean bringer of
forbidden knowledge. Depictions of this entity vary from group
to group, but he is generally regarded as a Luciferian force of
enlightenment opposed to the Hebrew deity Yahweh, or the
Demiurge, who is usually viewed as an imperfect tyrant, aimed
only at keeping men from knowledge; knowledge of the
falseness of the reality of which man occupies and its creator,
thereby interpreting Azazel as a Gnostic liberator.

[6][7] [8]

[edit] Literary references

John Milton, "Paradise Lost", Book I

Then [Satan] commands that ... be upreard

His mighty Standard; that proud honour claim'd
AZAZEL as his right, a Cherube tall:
Who forthwith from the glittering Staff unfurld
C:/…/Azazel%20-%20Wiki… 14/18
11/27/2009 Azazel - Wikipedia, the fre…
Th' Imperial Ensign

[edit] See also

Azazel in popular culture
Samyaza
Scapegoat

[edit] References
1. ^ JewishEncyclopedia.com - AZAZEL
2. ^ JewishEncyclopedia.com - AZAZEL
3. ^ JewishEncyclopedia.com - AZAZEL
4. ^ JewishEncyclopedia.com - AZAZEL
5. ^ JewishEncyclopedia.com - AZAZEL
6. ^ Joy of Satan: Azazel
7. ^ Theology of the Church of Azazel
8. ^ Temple of the Black Light

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azazel"

Categories: Angels in Judaism | Book of Enoch | Demons in
Christianity | Demons in Judaism | Demons in the Apocrypha |
Individual angels | Yom Kippur
Hidden categories: All articles with unsourced statements |
Articles with unsourced statements from March 2009 | Articles
with unsourced statements from April 2009

Views

Article
Discussion
Edit this page
C:/…/Azazel%20-%20Wiki… 15/18
11/27/2009 Azazel - Wikipedia, the fre…
History

Personal tools

Try Beta
Log in / create account

Navigation

Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article

Search

=
= = Go Search
=
Interaction

About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact Wikipedia
Donate to Wikipedia
Help

Toolbox

What links here

Related changes

C:/…/Azazel%20-%20Wiki… 16/18
11/27/2009 Azazel - Wikipedia, the fre…
Upload file
Special pages
Printable version
Permanent link
Cite this page

Languages

‫اﻟﻌﺮﺑﻳﺔ‬
Български
Česky
Deutsch
Español
Français
Hrvatski
Italiano
‫עברית‬
Nederlands
日本語
Polski
Română
Русский
Türkçe
Українська
中文

This page was last modified on 7 September 2009 at 03:16.

Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-
ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. See Terms
C:/…/Azazel%20-%20Wiki… 17/18
11/27/2009 Azazel - Wikipedia, the fre…
of Use for details.
Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia
Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers

C:/…/Azazel%20-%20Wiki… 18/18