Kozioł dla Azazela

Abstract

The rite included in Leviticus 16 belongs to penitential rites of purification. It may be a reminiscence of antic religious medical-magic rites, practiced in multiple regions of ancient world. The rites contained the idea of substitution, “magic elimination.” Sending the goat represents rejection of anything that should not and can not exist among the people of Israel. The desert as an “infertile” place, the theological idea of separating the good from the evil as well as the ancient idea of substitution point at the theology of penance expressed in the rite of separation. The text of Leviticus 16 applies the term sa‘ir for the goat. The same term is also applied in priestly text to describe demons relating to the misshapen form of Israel religion. There is an undoubted connection with the idea of Convenant that constitutes the basic background and point of reference for the rite of Leviticus 16.