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Leviticus 16 sends the scapegoat "to Azazel" without saying what or where Azazel is. The Aramaic Targum Pseudo-Jonathan resolves the ambiguity by making Azazel a place, naming the exact rocky desert, Beth-hadurey, where the goat is sent.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Leviticus 16:10
Hebrew Bible
8 and Aaron is to cast lots over the two goats, one lot for the Lord and one lot for Azazel. 9 Aaron must then present the goat which has been designated by lot for the Lord, and he is to make it a sin offering, 10 but the goat which has been designated by lot for Azazel is to be stood alive before the Lord to make atonement on it by sending it away into the desert to Azazel.
Pseudo Jonathan Leviticus 16:10
Targum
And Aharon shall put upon the goats equal lots; one lot for the Name of the Lord, and one lot for Azazel: and he shall throw them into the vase, and draw them out, and put them upon the goats. And Aharon shall bring the goat upon which came up the lot for the Name of the Lord, and make him a sin offering. And the goat on which came up the lot for Azazel he shall make to stand alive before the Lord, to expiate for the sins of the people of the house of Israel, by sending him to die in a place rough and hard in the rocky desert which is Beth‑hadurey.
Notes and References
“... Other details of Asael's punishment also evoke the scapegoat ritual. For example, just like the proverbial scapegoat, Asael's punishment occurs in the desert. While many actions in biblical history occur in the wilderness, the place of Asael's punishment is designated in 1 Enoch as Dudael. This is, no doubt, reminiscent of the terminology used for the designation of the ravine of the scapegoat (בית הדורו / הדודו) in later rabbinic interpretations of the Yom Kippur ritual. This tradition is reflected both in m. Yoma and Targum Pseudo-Jonathan. Cf. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan to Lev 16:10: 'The goat on which the lot of Azazel fell shall be set alive before the Lord to make atonement for the sinfulness of the people of the house of Soq, that is Beth Haduri.' ...”
Orlov, Andrei A.
The Atoning Dyad: The Two Goats of Yom Kippur in the Apocalypse of Abraham
(pp. 49-50) Brill, 2016
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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