He is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites — all their sins — and put them on the goat's head. He shall send the goat away into the wilderness in the care of someone appointed for the task. The hand-laying on the Azazel goat is a double hand-laying — both hands — the most intensive form of the identification-and-transfer act. The verbal confession of all the wickedness, rebellion, and sins of Israel over the goat's head is the priestly act of naming and transferring the community's total sin burden to the living animal. The double hand-laying and the verbal confession together accomplish the most complete transfer of sin in the Levitical system.

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

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