Was the Goat for Azazel Destined for the Wrath of God?

Research notes: 
25/3/2012 YP reader checked
Reference type: 
Journal Article
Author(s): 
De Roo, Jacqueline C.R.
year: 
2000
Full title: 

Was the Goat for Azazel Destined for the Wrath of God?

Translated title: 
Journal / Book Title || Series Title: 
Biblica
Volume: 
81
Issue / Series Volume: 
2
Number of volumes: 
0
Series Title: 
Abbreviated Series Name: 
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Pages: 
233-242
Chapter: 
Work type: 
Abstract: 

This article is a proposal to read the enigmatic word lz)z(, occurring in Lev 16,8.10.26, as a metathesized form of l)zz( on the basis of textual, semantic and contextual evidence, and to interpret it as a reference to ‘the powerful wrath of God’. This interpretation of the expression Azazel fits its biblical context, because the ‘goat for Azazel’ evidently had an atoning function (Lev 16,10), it was a means to atone for sin (vv. 21-22). Elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible, making atonement for sin is equated with appeasing God’s wrath (Num 16,46-48; 25,6-13). Likewise, ‘the goat for Azazel’, carrying the sins of the people, is for ‘the powerful wrath of God’, to placate his anger. The proposed interpretation of the ‘goat for Azazel’ ritual may also have been in the mind of some post-biblical interpreters, both Jewish and Christian.

Notes: 
Language: 
Alternative title: 
Date: 
Hebrew bible: 
Book: 
Leviticus
Chapter(s): 
16
Verse(s): 
Primary Texts: Judean Desert Documents: 
Scroll / Document: 
4Q180
Section type: 
Fragment
Passage: 
1
Scroll / Document: 
11Q19
Section type: 
Column
Passage: 
26
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Original Publication: 
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DOI: 
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Record number: 
12 764