Atonement: Why Yashua is NOT the Scapegoat as Described in Leviticus 16
There is a vast difference between the two goats for which lots were cast at Yom Kippur.
Leviticus 16 says that one was marked קֹדֶשׁ לַיהוָה Kodesh L'Yehovah - Holy/Set-apart to יְהוָֺה [Exodus 28:36] and the other “for Azazel.” The one that is Set-apart to יְהוָֺה is sacrificed and its blood placed on the Mercyseat, כַּפֹּרֶת kapporet, the word from which kippur is derived. The one for Azazel, inaccurately translated as ‘scapegoat’ in English, was the one that the sins of the entire nation of Israel were confessed onto and then sent out of the camp.
At the covenant of the pieces in Genesis 15:11 when the carrion birds came to try to take Abram’s sacrifices, the Book of Abraham in the Apocrypha gives some insight:
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
And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats: one lot for the LORD, and the other lot for Azazel. Leviticus 16:8 Mechon-Mamre
The goat for Azazel was sent out of the camp and it was the responsibility of the people to prevent it from returning. This may also be alluded to in Luke 11:24 where it says that the demons go through dry regions seeking a place to rest and tries to come back to where it was previously. This goat did not pay for sin with its life. It was a figurative transference carried out in a literal method and was how the people were taught to be responsible for keeping sin out of the camp as well as their individual lives. Sin is, as יְהוָֺה said to Cain, crouching at the door and we must keep it out. [Gen. 4:7] Clearly, this is NOT how we are to treat Yashua or the Ruach HaKodesh.
The Azazel goat that was never allowed back into the camp is a picture of keeping sin our of our lives once we repent. Repentance means that once the work of redemption through Yashua’s sacrifice has been applied to our lives we turn to יְהוָֺה and we do not sin again. As Yashua said, “Go and sin no more.” John 8:11
Upon further research regarding the Azazel goat with the misapplied description of scapegoat, I found that the word scapegoat is also not in the Septuagint, but is referred to as the he-goat that is 'carrying away.' In Greek, apopompaios, carrying away of evil, or to be cast out. The LSJ Greek-English Lexicon - Scapegoat mentioned Matthew 7:8 where Yashua tells the people to remove (cast out) the beam from our own eyes before we remove the splinter from others' eyes, referring to sin being removed from ourselves before we admonish others. The logical conclusion is that the goat marked 'for Azazel' is carrying sin back to the one for whom sin originated.
The Mirriam-Webster definition for scapegoat is one that bears the blame for others; one that is the object of irrational hostility. As I stated before, the word used in the Hebrew TaNaKh is NOT ‘scapegoat’ but it says that it is ‘for Azazel.’ In which case, Azazel cannot be a synonym for scapegoat. In actuality, the confessing of the sins of Israel onto this Azazel-goat and sending it out of the camp is returning the sins to the one from which they came. This goat is not a sacrifice such that its blood is truly propitiation or payment for sin.
The English word, scapegoat, is used 4 times in 3 verses. All three times in Leviticus 16; verses 8, 10, and 26. It is H5799 עֲזָאזֵל AhzahZAYL; it is from two words that means a 'gone goat' in the Hebrew language but it the name given to the one from whom all sin came into the world, according to the verses in the Book of Abraham.
I am also reminded of when Yashua went into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. He was in the wilderness where Azazel was kept outside of the camp! He didn't invite hasatan into the camp to be tempted there. He went to where Azazel dwells. [Matthew 4:1-11]
The goat that is marked “for יְהוָֺה” IS propitiation. The goat “for יְהוָֺה” took the punishment so IT was the scapegoat! It was perfect, without spot, it had NO sin placed upon it. That goat gave its symbolically perfect life and its blood was put on the Mercyseat, which, in Greek, is one of the definitions of propitiation.
Yashua DID take the punishment for our sin by His death but He was sinless. He did not become sin; He bore the punishment for our sin. He is not kept out of our lives the way the Azazel goat is. His Blood was put on the Mercyseat in Heaven just like the sacrificial goat that was ‘Set-apart for יְהוָֺה.’ His life, death and resurrection were not merely a figurative lesson but the literal carrying out of redemption for the lives of all those grafted in to covenant with יְהוָֺה through Him.
Propitiation – G2433 – hilastērion – relating to an appeasing or expiating, having placating or expiating force, expiatory; a means of appeasing or expiating, a propitiation; used of the cover of the ark of the covenant (i.e., Mercyseat) in the Holy of Holies, which was sprinkled with the blood of the expiatory victim on the annual day of atonement (this rite signifying that the life of the people, the loss of which they had merited by their sins, was offered to God in the blood as the life of the victim, and that God by this ceremony was appeased and their sins expiated); hence the lid of expiation (i.e., Mercyseat), the propitiatory; an expiatory sacrifice; an expiatory victim
This word [G2433] hilastērion* is used two times in the B’rit Chadasha:
“…whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation* through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God…” Romans 3:25 KJV
“…and over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the Mercyseat*; of which we cannot now speak particularly.” Hebrews 9:5 KJV
It is my humble opinion based on the research above that Yashua is NOT the Azazel goat as presumed by the word misinterpreted as scapegoat in Leviticus 16. Yashua’s sacrifice IS propitiation.
The Azazel goat is something else altogether and does not represent Yashua but hasatan.
As we reflect and repent of our sins, may we be reminded of the ancient covenant with Abram where Yehovah walked between the pieces. To 'cut a covenant' meant that like the animals which were cut in half, the ones who swore to it, if they broke the covenant, may what happened to the animals happen to them if the covenant was broken. Abram could not fulfill that stipulation so Yehovah stepped in and did it for him and for all of us who are Abraham's seed. Yashua died fulfilling that death position for us. May we never forget what it cost to bring us back into covenant with Yehovah.
By Marie Schryver
[Revised October 1, 2025]
My reply to someone's comment regarding 2 Corinthians 5:21:
ReplyDeleteI know that it says that Yashua "became" sin. I believe that this metaphor is poorly stated because English translations of Greek, devoid of the Hebrew mindset are perhaps doing what Greek and English do which is remove or at least diminish Yashua's deity. If He "becomes" sin, He is more like us and less like Yehovah, Who He is. I'm not trying to add to the Word nor diminish from it. I'm merely applying logic (admitting my limits) to Whom I believe to be Yehovah in human form, and being Yehovah, He cannot sin nor "become" sin. However, He can and did BEAR our sin for us, meaning that He took the punishment for us just like the goat marked "Kodesh L'Yehovah." He fulfilled the covenant promise that mankind's sin would be paid for by Yehovah's own sacrifice, Himself in the human form of Yashua. It is a mirror of when He covered Adam and Chavah in the garden. I hope that makes sense.
But, for the record:
"For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of Elohim."
Qorintiyim Bĕt (2 Corinthians) 5:21