Divine Scapegoats

Demonic Mimesis in Early Jewish Mysticism

Andrei A. Orlov

• Publisher: SUNY Press
• Year: 2015
• ISBN:
  9781438455846
• Topic: Teología y religión
• Subtopic: Religión

Divine Scapegoats is a wide-ranging exploration of the parallels between the heavenly and the demonic in early Jewish apocalyptical accounts. In these materials, antagonists often mirror features of angelic figures, and even those of the Deity himself, an inverse correspondence that implies a belief that the demonic realm is maintained by imitating divine reality. Andrei A. Orlov examines the sacerdotal, messianic, and creational aspects of this mimetic imagery, focusing primarily on two texts from the Slavonic pseudepigrapha: 2 Enoch and the Apocalypse of Abraham. These two works are part of a very special cluster of Jewish apocalyptic texts that exhibit features not only of the apocalyptic worldview but also of the symbolic universe of early Jewish mysticism. The Yom Kippur ritual in the Apocalypse of Abraham, the divine light and darkness of 2 Enoch, and the similarity of mimetic motifs to later developments in the Zohar are of particular importance in Orlov's consideration.

PART I

Studies in the Apocalypse of Abraham

The Curses of Azazel

… Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, in this fashion: his right hand upon his left. He shall confess over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel and all their rebellions, whatever their sins; he shall put them on the head of the goat with a declared and explicit oath by the great and glorious Name.

—Targum Pseudo-Jonathan to Leviticus 16:21

Introduction

The second part of the Apocalypse of Abraham, a Jewish pseudepigraphon written in early centuries of the Common Era,1 deals with the ascent of the eponymous hero to the heavenly Holy of Holies. On this celestial journey, Abraham and his angelic companion Yahoel encounter a strange demonic creature, namely, the fallen angel Azazel, who attempts to interfere, warning the patriarch about the grave dangers that a mortal might encounter upon ascending to the abode of the Deity. In response to Azazel’s challenge, Yahoel rebukes and curses the fallen angel. The curses imposed on the fallen angel are often seen as having cultic significance.2 In the sacerdotal framework of the Slavonic apocalypse, which is permeated with the dynamics of the Yom Kippur ritual,3 the cursing formulae delivered by the angel Yahoel, whom the text depicts as the celestial cultic servant,4 appear reminiscent of those curses bestowed on the scapegoat by the high priest on the Day of Atonement.5 Thus some have argued that the fallen angel bearing the conspicuous name Azazel6 is depicted here as the celestial scapegoat predestined to take upon itself the sins and transgressions of Abraham in order to carry them into the realm of his exile. This chapter will explore Azazel’s curses and their role in the sacerdotal framework of the Slavonic apocalypse.

The Cursing of Azazel in the Apocalypse of Abraham 13 and 14

Preliminary analysis of the relevant passages in the Apocalypse of Abraham reveals that the curses on the celestial scapegoat in the text can be divided in two major groups: (1) curses bestowed on Azazel directly by Yahoel in chapter 13 and (2) the reaffirmation of these sacerdotal actions taking place when the angel instructs Abraham in chapter 14.

Chapter 13: Curses bestowed by Yahoel

In Apocalypse of Abraham 13:7–14, the following mysterious encounter between the heavenly high priest Yahoel and the celestial scapegoat Azazel takes place:

… Reproach is on you, Azazel! Since Abraham’s portion is in heaven, and yours is on earth, since you have chosen it and desired it to be the dwelling place of your impurity.7 Therefore the Eternal Lord, the Mighty One, has made you a dweller on earth. And because of you [there is] the wholly-evil spirit of the lie, and because of you [there are] wrath and trials on the generations of impious men.

Since the Eternal Mighty God did not send the righteous, in their bodies, to be in your hand, in order to affirm through them the righteous life and the destruction of impiety. … Hear, adviser! Be shamed by me, since you have been appointed to tempt not all the righteous!

Depart from this man! You cannot deceive him, because he is the enemy of you and of those who follow you and who love what you desire. For behold, the garment which in heaven was formerly yours has been set aside for him, and the corruption which was on him has gone over to you.8

In view of the aforementioned sacerdotal affiliations of Yahoel, it is possible that his address to the fallen angel bearing the name of the scapegoat has cultic significance, since it appears reminiscent of some of the actions performed by the high priest on the Day of Atonement. Similarly, some of the technical terminology found in this passage may be related to terminology associated with Yom Kippur.9 The most crucial aspect of the text is that Yahoel’s address contains utterances that are reminiscent of curses bestowed on the scapegoat during the great atoning rite. One of these pronouncements is found in Apocalypse of Abraham 13:12–14 (quoted above), where the transference of the patriarch’s sin onto the celestial scapegoat coincides with the command to depart. Scholars note that this address is reminiscent of the earlier form of the scapegoat’s curse imposed on the animal by his handlers during the Yom Kippur celebration.10 M. Yoma 6:4 reads:

… And they made a causeway for it because of the Babylonians who used to pull its hair, crying to it, “Bear [our sins] and be gone! Bear [our sins] and be gone!”11

This mishnaic passage includes two cultic elements: (1) a bestowal of sins (“bear [our sins]”) and (2) a command of departure (“be gone”).12 The Apocalypse of Abraham exhibits a very similar constellation of motifs, as the transference of the sins on Azazel13 (“the corruption which was on him has gone over to you”) appears simultaneously with the command to depart (“depart from this man”). It is noteworthy, however, that, in contrast to the mishnaic tradition, the Slavonic apocalypse situates the departing formula not after the action of the sins’ transference but before.

Further details related to the bestowal of curses onto the scapegoat are found in Apocalypse of Abraham 13:7–14 and 13:11, 15 which describe Yahoel’s reproach and shaming of Azazel. Moreover, his utterances may be related to the ritual curses bestowed upon the scapegoat. The language of cursing or “shame” found in verse 11 is especially significant because it precedes the similar formulations within mishnaic traditions.

Chapter 14: Curses in Yahoel’s Instruction to Abraham

After Yahoel bestows the curses in Chapter 13, the great angel explains both the handling of the scapegoat to Abraham and the ritual curses. Several details must be considered with respect to the peculiar sacerdotal settings of this portion of the text. Scholars have proposed that in the Apocalypse of Abraham Yahoel appears to function as a senior cultic celebrant explaining and demonstrating rituals to a junior sacerdotal servant, namely, Abraham.16 This parallelism between the instructions of the teacher and the actions of the apprentice is already clear in the beginning of the apocalyptic section of the text, where the patriarch faithfully follows the orders of his angelic guide to prepare the sacrifices.17 The same pattern of sacerdotal instruction, in which the orders of the master are followed by the disciple’s performance, is also discernible in the depiction of the ritual of dispatching the scapegoat. Apocalypse of Abraham 14:1–8 describes how, after Yahoel’s own “handling” of Azazel, the angel verbally instructs Abraham about dealing with the scapegoat:

And the angel said to me, “Abraham!” And I said, “Here am I, your servant.” And he said, “Know by this that the Eternal One whom you have loved has chosen you. Be bold and have power, as I order you, over him who reviles justice, or else I shall not be able to revile him who scattered about the earth the secrets of heaven and who conspired against the Mighty One.

Say to him, “May you be the fire brand of the furnace of the earth! Go, Azazel, into the untrodden parts of the earth. Since your inheritance are those who are with you, with men born with the stars and clouds. And their portion is you, and they come into being through your being. And justice is your enmity. Therefore, through your own destruction vanish from before me!” And I said the words as the angel had taught me.18

This address again contains elements intended to further denigrate and humiliate the fallen angel bearing the name of the scapegoat, depicting him as an enemy of justice and a damned celestial creature predestined for destruction in the lower abode.

It is also important that in this narrative we again encounter the formulas of departure that constitute the crucial element in the previously mentioned mishnaic curse. Moreover, these commands of departure appear to be even more decisive and forceful than in the passage from chapter 13, as it now includes such commands as “Go” (Slav. иди)19 and “Vanish from before me” (Slav. буди от мене исчезлъ).20

The description of the handling of the scapegoat recorded in m. Yoma 4:2 reveals that the high priest was to place the scapegoat in the direction of his future exile, likely to indicate its destination. Thus, m. Yoma 4:2 reads: “He bound a thread of crimson wool on the head of the scapegoat and he turned it towards the way by which it was to be sent out. …”21 This tradition of showing the scapegoat the place of his banishment appears to be reflected in the Slavonic apocalypse when the celestial high priest Yahoel informs Azazel about his future destination: “Go, Azazel, into the untrodden parts of the earth.” The word “untrodden” (Slav. беспроходна, lit. “impassable”)22 is significant because it designates a place uninhabitable to human beings, reminiscent of the language of Leviticus 16, where the scapegoat is dispatched “to the solitary place” (אל ארץ גזרה) “in the wilderness” (במדבר).f23 Commenting on this terminology, Jacob Milgrom observes that “the purpose of dispatching the goat to the wilderness is to remove it from human habitation.”24 Later exegetical traditions, too, often emphasize this “removing” aspect of the scapegoat rite.25 For example, in his De Spec. Leg. I.188, Philo explains that the goat was sent “… into a trackless and desolate wilderness bearing on its back the curses which had lain upon the transgressors who have now been purified by conversion to the better life and through their new obedience have washed away their old disobedience to the law.”26

Abraham’s repetition of the words he received from Yahoel in the concluding phrase of the passage from chapter 14 seems to align with our earlier suggestion that Abraham is depicted in this text as a type of priestly apprentice receiving instructions from his great master, and then applying this knowledge in dispatching the scapegoat.27

The Scarlet Band of the Scapegoat and Azazel’s Garment

As mentioned above, the Apocalypse of Abraham reinterprets many features of the scapegoat rite with complicated eschatological imagery, translating earthly attributes of the cultic animal into a new apocalyptic dimension.28 This profound paradigm shift affects several distinctive features of the scapegoat ritual, including the crimson band that, according to some traditions, was placed on the head of the cultic animal during the Yom Kippur celebration. In the intricate web of apocalyptic reformulations which took place in the Slavonic pseudepigraphon, this animal’s emblematic headgear becomes his garment of sins.29

Early Jewish and Christian Traditions about the Crimson Thread

The origin of the scarlet band imagery is shrouded in mystery.30 Rabbinic passages often connect the symbolism of the band with Isa 1:18: “[T]hough your sins are like scarlet, they shall be like snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.”31 Their use of the Isaiah passage indicates that the band was intended to manifest the forgiveness of Israel’s transgression...