Leviticus 16:8

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.

lots These objects are known to us through the tradition which we have received from our ancestors. Sa‘adya Gaon said that ‘Azazel is the name of a mountain, so called because it is mighty [Hebrew: ‘az]. A divine name [Hebrew: ’el , powerful] appears as a suffix, in the sense of “the great mountains” [Psalms 36:7] and “Yequti’el” [literally, “hope in the Mighty One”] [I Chronicles 4:18]. The Gaon Halevy held that the word ‘Azazel does not contain such a suffix, because its ’alef appears between two zayin’s . Some say that this mountain is near Mount Sinai, and that God commanded us to lead the goat up the mountain and to slaughter it there. Afterward, during the time of the Second Temple, the goat used to be led to a different mountain. The evidence that the particulars were reinterpreted is the otherwise superfluous verse “Aaron did everything…” [8:36]. In my opinion the festival of Shavu‘ot was treated similarly, as I shall explain in its place [comment on 23:11]. One commentator has pointed out that the service in the Second Temple differed from the service in the First Temple: the High Priest lacked certain garments, and there was no ark-cover. He suggested that, originally, the scapegoat was sent into the wilderness , for so it is written: “he will send the goat into the desert” [:22]. The purpose is the same as that of the bird send “into the fields” [14:7] — an uninhabited place — in the case of someone purifying himself from ṣara‘at . As conclusive evidence, he cites the phrase “to a barren region” [:22]. We may rebut this argument thus: The goat is first sent into the wilderness, as it is written. It is then pursued until it flees atop a high rock — at which point, in the words of our Sages, “he pushes it from behind” [Yoma 67a]. Gaon Shmu’el ben Ḥofni HaKohen has said that, although the sin-offering goat is marked for God, the scapegoat is also for God. Scripture does not require his explanation, though, because the scapegoat is not a sacrifice , since it is not slaughtered.

AND THE OTHER LOT FOR AZAZEL. “This was a high mountain — a flinty precipitous peak, as it is said, a land which is cut off.” This is the language of Rashi. And in the Torath Kohanim [the Rabbis have said]: 2:8. “For Azazel. This means the ‘hardest’ place in the mountains. I might think that it refers to an inhabited place; Scripture therefore says into the wilderness. Whence do we know that it be a precipitous peak? Scripture therefore says, unto a land which is cut off.” Accordingly the meaning of the word la’azazel is to “a hard” place, [the root of the word azazel being az — strong], with the letter za’yin doubled just like ‘izuz’ (strong) and mighty.
Now Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra wrote: “Said Rav Shmuel: ‘Although it is [only] with reference to the goat of the sin-offering that it is written [explicitly] that it was for the Eternal,, and in the following verse it is stated that the goat upon which the lot fell for the Eternal be offered for a sin-offering. the goat which was sent away [to Azazel] was also for the Eternal.’ But there is no need for this [comment]. For the goat which was sent away was not an “offering’ since it was not slaughtered. Now if you can understand the secret of the word after ‘Azazel,’ (for Azazel into the wilderness). The secret is thus that this is the desert’s portion. you will know its secret [that of Azazel] and the secret of its name, (strong), which is indicative of the nature of the offering befitting him, and of the strength and might which are in his power” (Peirush Mototh on Ibn Ezra). since it has companions in Scripture., Verse 53). See Ramban ibid., Verse 53. And I will reveal to you part of the secret by hint: when you will be at thirty-three. Here then is the secret of why the goat that was sent away to Azazel was not slaughtered, so that it should not appear as a form of sacrifice to the satyrs (Ohel Yoseph). See my Hebrew commentary, p. 88. you will know it.” [Thus far are the words of Ibn Ezra]. Now of Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra it may be said that he that is of a faithful spirit concealeth a matter, and I will not be the talebearer who revealeth his secret,. Ramban thus after paying tribute to Ibn Ezra for remaining faithful to the spirit of the second half of the verse, now says that nor will he himself be in violation of the first half of the verse, since the …

גורלות, use of a lot, especially when handled by one of G’d’s intimates, in this case by Aaron, serves to confirm something G’d wants as we know from Solomon in Proverbs 16,33 בחיק יוטל את הגורל, ומה' כל משפטו, “the lot is cast in the lap, but one’s judgment depends on G.d.” [the gullible person imagining that as long as the lot has not revealed what it was meant to reveal the fate of the individual has not been determined, is in gross error. The fate had long ago been determined in heaven. (Alshich). Ed.]

גורל אחד לה' וגורל אחד לעזאזל, “one lot for the Lord and one lot for Azazel.” Ibn Ezra, [at the conclusion of his commentary on this verse, Ed.], writes that when we get to thirty three, we will be able to understand the meaning of this procedure. [At the beginning of his commentary, he had already hinted that there is a mystical element, kabbalah, in all this. Ed.] What he meant was that when we count the next thirty three verses in the Torah and we get to Leviticus 17,7, the Torah will explain that the procedure described here is meant to teach us not to sacrifice to Satanic forces in the universe anymore. These Satanic forces are symbolised by the scapegoat. Just as the bird released into the air by the priest performing the ritual of the person afflicted with tzoraat is perceived as taking away his former sins, so the scapegoat is supposed to do this on behalf of the whole Jewish nation on the day of Atonement. Ibn Ezra understands the word עזאזל as a combination of two words, similar to גלעד in Genesis 31,47 or to בנימין in Genesis 35,18 or ראובן in Genesis 29,32, and many others. Whereas the first male goat is offered to the Lord as a burnt offering, the second one is symbolically tendered of the Satanic forces, the complete destruction of that animal pointing at the uselessness of idolatry The two words לעז אזל, “it went to waste, to destruction ” symbolise this concept.