Azazel

Azazel is a Hebrew term appearing three times in Leviticus 16 (verses 8, 10, 26), where it designates the second of the two goats in the Day of Atonement ritual—the one over which the high priest confessed Israel's sins before it was driven into the wilderness. The Authorized Version renders it scapegoat; the Revised Version and most modern translations transliterate it as Azazel.

Its meaning is disputed: some interpreters understand it as a place (a remote wilderness area), others as a descriptor (the goat that departs or entire removal), and others as the name of a demonic figure inhabiting the desert. Theologically, the rite is understood as a dramatic enactment of the removal of sin from the community: the two goats together—one slaughtered, one sent away—symbolize both the atoning death and the complete bearing away of guilt that are united in Christ's work.