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New King James Version

Leviticus 16:10

But the goat on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make atonement upon it, and to let it go as the scapegoat into the wilderness.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Atonement;   Azazel;   Church;   Lot, the;   Offerings;   Scapegoat;   Scofield Reference Index - Israel;   Thompson Chain Reference - Atonement;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Atonement, the Day of;   High Priest, the;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Expiation;   Scapegoat;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Day of atonement;   Interpretation;   Type, typology;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Atonement;   Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Expiation;   Fasting;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Atonement, Day of;   Azazel;   Divination;   Goat;   Scapegoat;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Atonement, Day of;   Goat;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Animals;   Day of Atonement;   Expiation, Propitiation;   Festivals;   High Priest;   Leviticus;   Reconcilation;   Scapegoat;   Wilderness;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Atonement, Day of;   Azazel;   Church;   Clean and Unclean;   Fasting;   Leviticus;   Priests and Levites;   Propitiation;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Lots;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Atonement;   Lots, Casting;   Mercy Seat;   The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary - Expiation;   Goat;   Veil;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Atonement;   High priest;   Offering;   Priest;   Scapegoat;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Lot;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Tabernacle, the;   Priesthood, the;   Worship, the;   On to Canaan;   Law of Moses, the;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Atonement, Day of;   Azazel;   Divide;   Night-Monster;   Priest, High;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Atonement;   Demonology;   Goat;   Hafṭarah;   Law, Reading from the;   Symbol;  

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
But the goat, on which the lot fell for the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make atonement for him, to send him away for the scapegoat into the wilderness.
King James Version
But the goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the Lord , to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness.
Lexham English Bible
But he must present alive before Yahweh the goat on which the lot for Azazel fell to make atonement for himself, to send it away into the desert to Azazel.
New Century Version
The other goat, which was chosen by lot to remove the sin, must be brought alive before the Lord . The priest will use it to perform the acts that remove Israel's sin so they will belong to the Lord . Then this goat will be sent out into the desert as a goat that removes sin.
New English Translation
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 to Azazel into the wilderness.
Amplified Bible
"But the goat on which the lot fell for the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the LORD to make atonement on it; it shall be sent into the wilderness as the scapegoat.
New American Standard Bible
"But the goat on which the lot for the scapegoat fell shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make atonement upon it, to send it into the wilderness as the scapegoat.
Geneva Bible (1587)
But the goate, on which the lot shal fall to be the Scape goate, shalbe presented aliue before the Lord, to make reconciliation by him, & to let him go (as a Scape goate) into the wildernes.
Legacy Standard Bible
But the goat on which the lot for the scapegoat fell shall be presented alive before Yahweh, to make atonement upon it, to send it out into the wilderness as the scapegoat.
Contemporary English Version
the other one must be presented to me alive, before you send it into the desert to take away the sins of the people.
Complete Jewish Bible
But the goat whose lot fell to ‘Az'azel is to be presented alive to Adonai to be used for making atonement over it by sending it away into the desert for ‘Az'azel.
Darby Translation
And the goat upon which the lot fell for Azazel shall be set alive before Jehovah, to make atonement with it, to send it away as Azazel into the wilderness.
Easy-to-Read Version
But the goat chosen by the lot for Azazel will be brought alive before the Lord . Then this goat will be sent out to Azazel in the desert. This is to make the people pure.
English Standard Version
but 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.
George Lamsa Translation
But the goat on which the lot of Azazael fell shall be presented alive before the LORD to make an atonement with it and to send it away to Azazael into the wilderness.
Good News Translation
The goat chosen for Azazel shall be presented alive to the Lord and sent off into the desert to Azazel, in order to take away the sins of the people.
Christian Standard Bible®
But the goat chosen by lot for an uninhabitable place is to be presented alive before the Lord to make atonement with it by sending it into the wilderness for an uninhabitable place.
Literal Translation
And the goat on which the lot fell for a complete removal shall be made to stand living before Jehovah to atone by it, to send it away for a complete removal into the wilderness.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
But the goate, that the fre goates lot fell vpon, shal he present a lyue before ye LORDE, to make an attonement for him, and to let the fre goate go into ye wyldernes.
American Standard Version
But the goat, on which the lot fell for Azazel, shall be set alive before Jehovah, to make atonement for him, to send him away for Azazel into the wilderness.
Bible in Basic English
But the goat for Azazel is to be placed living before the Lord, for the taking away of sin, that it may be sent away for Azazel into the waste land.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
But the goate on which the lot fell to be the scape goate, shalbe set aliue before the Lorde to reconcile with, and to let hym go as a scape goate into the wildernesse.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
But the goat, on which the lot fell for Azazel, shall be set alive before the LORD, to make atonement over him, to send him away for Azazel into the wilderness.
King James Version (1611)
But the goat on which the lot fell to be the Scape goate, shalbe presented aliue before the Lord, to make an atonement with him, and to let him goe for a Scape goate into the wildernesse.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
and the goat upon which the lot of the scape-goat came, he shall present alive before the Lord, to make atonement upon him, so as to send him away as a scape-goat, and he shall send him into the wilderness.
English Revised Version
But the goat, on which the lot fell for Azazel, shall be set alive before the LORD, to make atonement for him, to send him away for Azazel into the wilderness.
Berean Standard Bible
But the goat chosen by lot as the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the LORD to make purification by sending it into the wilderness as the scapegoat.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
sotheli whos lot goith out in to goot that schal be sent out, he schal sette hym quyk bifor the Lord, that he sende preyers `on hym, and sende hym out in to wildirnesse.
Young's Literal Translation
`And the goat on which the lot for a goat of departure hath gone up is caused to stand living before Jehovah to make atonement by it, to send it away for a goat of departure into the wilderness.
Update Bible Version
But the goat, on which the lot fell for Azazel, shall be set alive before Yahweh, to make atonement for him, to send him away for Azazel into the wilderness.
Webster's Bible Translation
But the goat on which the lot fell to be the scape-goat, shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make an atonement with him, [and] to let him go for a scape-goat into the wilderness.
World English Bible
But the goat, on which the lot fell for Azazel, shall be set alive before Yahweh, to make atonement for him, to send him away for Azazel into the wilderness.
New Living Translation
The other goat, the scapegoat chosen by lot to be sent away, will be kept alive, standing before the Lord . When it is sent away to Azazel in the wilderness, the people will be purified and made right with the Lord .
New Life Bible
But the goat that was chosen to be sent away will be brought alive before the Lord, for the taking away of sin. And it will be sent into the desert.
New Revised Standard
but 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.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
but, the goat over which came up the lot for Azazel, shall he cause to stand alive - before Yahweh to put a propitiatory-covering over him, - to send him away unto Azazel, towards the desert.
Douay-Rheims Bible
But that whose lot was to be the emissary goat, he shall present before the Lord, that he may pour prayers upon him, and let him go into the wilderness.
Revised Standard Version
but the goat on which the lot fell for Aza'zel shall be presented alive before the LORD to make atonement over it, that it may be sent away into the wilderness to Aza'zel.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
"But the goat on which the lot for the scapegoat fell shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make atonement upon it, to send it into the wilderness as the scapegoat.

Contextual Overview

5 And he shall take from the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats as a sin offering, and one ram as a burnt offering. 6 "Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering, which is for himself, and make atonement for himself and for his house. 7 He shall take the two goats and present them before the LORD at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. 8 Then Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats: one lot for the LORD and the other lot for the scapegoat. 9 And Aaron shall bring the goat on which the LORD's lot fell, and offer it as a sin offering. 10 But the goat on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make atonement upon it, and to let it go as the scapegoat into the wilderness. 11 "And Aaron shall bring the bull of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make atonement for himself and for his house, and shall kill the bull as the sin offering which is for himself. 12 Then he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from the altar before the LORD, with his hands full of sweet incense beaten fine, and bring it inside the veil. 13 And he shall put the incense on the fire before the LORD, that the cloud of incense may cover the mercy seat that is on the Testimony, lest he die. 14 He shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the mercy seat on the east side; and before the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

the scapegoat: Leviticus 16:21, Leviticus 16:22

to make: Isaiah 53:5, Isaiah 53:6, Isaiah 53:10, Isaiah 53:11, Romans 4:25, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Hebrews 7:26, Hebrews 7:27, Hebrews 9:23, Hebrews 9:24, 1 John 2:2, 1 John 3:16

let him: Leviticus 14:7

Reciprocal: Leviticus 16:17 - and have made Leviticus 16:26 - he that

Cross-References

Genesis 16:1
Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. And she had an Egyptian maidservant whose name was Hagar.
Genesis 16:2
So Sarai said to Abram, "See now, the LORD has restrained me from bearing children. Please, go in to my maid; perhaps I shall obtain children by her." And Abram heeded the voice of Sarai.
Genesis 16:3
Then Sarai, Abram's wife, took Hagar her maid, the Egyptian, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan.
Genesis 16:5
Then Sarai said to Abram, "My wrong be upon you! I gave my maid into your embrace; and when she saw that she had conceived, I became despised in her eyes. The LORD judge between you and me."
Genesis 16:6
So Abram said to Sarai, "Indeed your maid is in your hand; do to her as you please." And when Sarai dealt harshly with her, she fled from her presence.
Genesis 16:7
Now the Angel of the LORD found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to Shur.
Genesis 16:8
And He said, "Hagar, Sarai's maid, where have you come from, and where are you going?" She said, "I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai."
Genesis 16:9
The Angel of the LORD said to her, "Return to your mistress, and submit yourself under her hand."
Genesis 16:11
And the Angel of the LORD said to her: "Behold, you are with child, And you shall bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, Because the LORD has heard your affliction.
Genesis 16:12
He shall be a wild man; His hand shall be against every man, And every man's hand against him. And he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren."

Gill's Notes on the Bible

But the goat on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat,.... Or for Azazel, of which more hereafter in the latter part of the verse:

shall be presented alive before the Lord; this seems to be a second presentation; both the goats were presented before the Lord before the lots were cast, Leviticus 16:7; but this was afterwards, when one of the goats, according to the lot, being presented, was ordered to be killed for a sin offering, and the other according to the lot being presented alive, was ordered to remain so:

to make an atonement with him; to make an atonement for the sins of the people of Israel along with the other, for they both made one sin offering, Leviticus 16:6; and this, though spared alive for a while, yet at length was killed; and how, the Jewish writers relate, as will be after observed:

[and] to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness; or, unto Azazel into the wilderness; which, some understand of a mountain in the wilderness called Azazel, to which the Targum of Jonathan has respect, which paraphrases the word,

"to send him to die in a place strong and hard, which is in the wilderness of Zuck;''

and so Saadiah Gaon, Jarchi, Kimchi, and others; and one in Aben Ezra says, it was near Mount Sinai; but as it is rightly observed by some, was this the name of a mountain, Moses would have called it the mountain Azazel, as he does other mountains by their names: nor is there any account of any such mountain in those parts, by such who have travelled in it, and if near Sinai, it was a long way to send it from Jerusalem; and for which there seems to be no reason, since there were many deserts between those two places: Aben Ezra suggests, there is a secret or mystery in the word Azazel, and says, you may know it and the mystery of his name, for he has companions in Scripture; and I will reveal to you, says he, part of it by a hint, when you are the son of thirty three, you may know its meaning, that is, by reckoning thirty three verses from Leviticus 16:8; where this word is first mentioned, which will fall on Leviticus 17:7; "they shall no more offer unto devils"; and so R. Menachem interprets Azazel of Samael, the angel of death, the devil, the prince that hath power over desolate places: there are several Christian writers of great note, that understand this of the devil, as Origen b, among the ancients; and of the moderns, Cocceius c, Witsius d, and Spencer e, who think that by these two goats is signified the twofold respect of Christ our Mediator; one to God, as a Judge, to whom he made satisfaction by his death; the other to the devil, the enemy with whom he conflicted in life; who, according to prophecy, was to be delivered up to Satan, and have his heel bruised by him; and who was to come, and did come into the wilderness of this world, and when Jerusalem was a desert, and became a Roman province; and who was led by the Spirit into wilderness of Judea, in a literal sense, to be tempted of the devil, and had a sore conflict with him in the garden, when he sweat, as it were, drops of blood; and upon the cross, when he submitted to the death of it; during which time he had the sins of all his people on him, and made an end of them, so as to be seen no more; all which agrees with Leviticus 16:21; of which see more there; and it must be owned, that no other sense seems so well to agree with the type as this; since the living goat had all the sins of the people on him, and was reckoned so impure, that he that led him into the wilderness stood in need of washing and cleansing, Leviticus 16:21; whereas, when Christ was raised from the dead, he was clear of all sin, being justified in the Spirit; and in his resurrection there was no impurity, nor could any be reckoned or supposed to belong to him, as Witsius well observes, no, not as the surety of his people; nor in his resurrection was he a sin offering, as this goat was; nor could his ascension to heaven, with any propriety, be represented by this goat being let go into the wilderness: as for the notion of Barabbas, as Origen f, being meant by Azazel, or the rebellious people of the Jews, carried into the wilderness, or into captivity by Nebuchadnezzar, and which is the sense of Abarbinel, and in which he is followed by many Christian writers, they need no confutation.

b Contr. Cels. 1. 6. p. 305. c Comment. in Heb. 9. sect. 25, &c. d De Oeconom. Faederum, l. 4. c. 6. sect. 71, 72, 73. e De Leg. Heb. l. 3. Dissert. 8. c. 1. sect. 2. and of the same mind was our English poet Milton, that Azazel was a demon:

His mighty standard: that proud honour claim'd Azazel as his right, a cherub tall. --Milton's Paradise Lost, B. 1. l. 533, 534. f In Lev. Homil. 10. c. 16. fol. 82.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

On which the lot fell to be the scapegoat - Rather, on which the lot ‘for Azazel’ fell.

An atonement with him - The goat “for Azazel” was to be considered as taking his part along with the other goat in the great symbol of atonement.

For a scapegoat into the wilderness - Rather, “to Azazel, into the wilderness.”

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Leviticus 16:10. To be the scape-goat — עזאזל azazel, from עז az, a goat, and אזל azal, to dismiss; the dismissed or sent away goat, to distinguish it from the goat that was to be offered in sacrifice. Most ancient nations had vicarious sacrifices, to which they transferred by certain rites and ceremonies the guilt of the community at large, in the same manner in which the scapegoat was used by the Jews. The white bull that was sacrificed by the Egyptians to their god Apis was of this kind; they cut off the head of the victim which they had sacrificed, and after having loaded it with execrations, "that if there be any evil hanging over them or the land of Egypt, it may be poured out upon that head," they either sold it to the Greeks or threw it into the Nile. - See HEROD. Euterp., p. 104, edit. Gale.

Petronius Arbiter says that it was a custom among the ancient inhabitants of Marseilles, whenever they were afflicted by any pestilence, to take one of the poorer citizens who offered himself for the purpose, and having fed him a whole year with the purest and best food, they adorned him with vervain, and clothed him with sacred vestments: they then led him round their city, loading him with execrations; and having prayed that all the evils to which the city was exposed might fall upon him, they then precipitated him from the top of a rock.-Satiricon, in fine.

Suidas, under the word περιψημα, observes that it was a custom to devote a man annually to death for the safety of the people, with these words, Περιψἡμα ημων γενου, Be thou our purifier; and, having said so, to throw him into the sea as a sacrifice to Neptune. It was probably to this custom that Virgil alludes when speaking of the pilot Palinurus, who fell into the sea and was drowned, he says: -

Unum pro multis dabiter caput. - AEn., lib. v., ver. 815.

"One life is given for the preservation of many."

But the nearest resemblance to the scapegoat of the Hebrews is found in the Ashummeed Jugg of the Hindoos, where a horse is used instead of a goat, the description of which I shall here introduce from Mr. Halhed's Code of Gentoo Laws; Introduction, p. xix.

"That the curious," says he, "may form some idea of this Gentoo sacrifice when reduced to a symbol, as well as from the subsequent plain account given of it in a chapter of the Code, sec. ix., p. 127, an explanation of it is here inserted from Darul Sheküh's famous Persian translation of some commentaries upon the four Beids, or original Scriptures of Hindostan. The work itself is extremely scarce, and it was by mere accident that this little specimen was procured: -

"The Ashummeed Jugg does not merely consist in the performance of that ceremony which is open to the inspection of the world, namely, in bringing a horse and sacrificing him; but Ashummeed is to be taken in a mystic signification, as implying that the sacrificer must look upon himself to be typified in that horse, such as he shall be described; because the religious duty of the Ashummeed Jugg comprehends all those other religious duties to the performance of which the wise and holy direct all their actions, and by which all the sincere professors of every different faith aim at perfection. The mystic signification thereof is as follows: The head of that unblemished horse is the symbol of the morning; his eyes are the sun; his breath, the wind; his wide-opening mouth is the bish-waner, or that innate warmth which invigorates all the world; his body typifies one entire year; his back, paradise; his belly, the plains; his hoof, this earth; his sides, the four quarters of the heavens; the bones thereof, the intermediate spaces between the four quarters; the rest of his limbs represent all distinct matter; the places where those limbs meet, or his joints, imply the months, and halves of the months, which are called peche, (or fortnights;) his feet signify night and day; and night and day are of four kinds:

1. The night and day of Brihma;

2. The night and day of angels;

3. The night and day of the world of the spirits of deceased ancestors;

4. The night and day of mortals.

These four kinds are typified in his four feet. The rest of his bones are the constellations of the fixed stars, which are the twenty-eight stages of the moon's course, called the lunar year; his flesh is the clouds; his food, the sand; his tendons, the rivers; his spleen and liver, the mountains; the hair of his body, the vegetables; and his long hair, the trees; the forepart of his body typifies the first half of the day, and the hinder part, the latter half; his yawning is the flash of the lightning, and his turning himself is the thunder of the cloud; his urine represents the rain, and his mental reflection is his only speech. The golden vessels which are prepared before the horse is let loose are the light of the day, and the place where those vessels are kept is a type of the ocean of the east; the silver vessels which are prepared after the horse is let loose are the light of the night, and the place where those vessels are kept is a type of the ocean of the west. These two sorts of vessels are always before and after the horse. The Arabian horse, which on account of his swiftness is called Hy, is the performer of the journeys of angels; the Tajee, which is of the race of Persian horses, is the performer of the journeys of the Kundherps, (or good spirits;) the Wazba, which is of the race of the deformed Tazee horses, is the performer of the journeys of the Jins, (or demons;) and the Ashov, which is of the race of Turkish horses, is the performer of the journeys of mankind: this one horse which performs these several services on account of his four different sorts of riders, obtains the four different appellations. The place where this horse remains is the great ocean, which signifies the great spirit of Perm-Atma, or the universal soul, which proceeds also from that Perm-Atma, and is comprehended in the same Perm-Atma. The intent of this sacrifice is, that a man should consider himself to be in the place of that horse, and look upon all these articles as typified in himself; and conceiving the Atma (or Divine soul) to be an ocean, should let all thought of self be absorbed in that Atma."

This sacrifice is explained, in sec. ix., p. 127, of the Code of Hindoo Laws, thus: -

"An Ashummeed Jugg is when a person, having commenced a Jugg, (i. e., religious ceremony,) writes various articles upon a scroll of paper on a horse's neck, and dismisses the horse, sending along with the horse a stout and valiant person, equipped with the best necessaries and accoutrements to accompany the horse day and night whithersoever he shall choose to go; and if any creature, either man, genius, or dragon, should seize the horse, that man opposes such attempt, and having gained the victory upon a battle, again gives the horse his freedom. If any one in this world, or in heaven, or beneath the earth, would seize this horse, and the horse of himself comes to the house of the celebrator of the Jugg, upon killing that horse he must throw the flesh of him upon the fire of the Juk, and utter the prayers of his deity; such a Jugg is called a Jugg Ashummeed, and the merit of it as a religious work is infinite."

This is a most curious circumstance; and the coincidence between the religious rites of two people who probably never had any intercourse with each other, is very remarkable. I would not however say that the Hindoo ceremony could not have been borrowed from the Jews; (though it is very unlikely;) no more than I should say, as some have done, that the Jewish rite was borrowed from the Egyptian sacrifice to Apis mentioned above, which is still more unlikely. See particularly Clarke's note on "Leviticus 1:4".


 
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