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AzariahInsight on the Scriptures, Volume 1
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15. A prince of Ephraim, son of Jehohanan. After defeating Judah in the middle of the eighth century B.C.E., Israel was leading 200,000 captives back when Azariah and other princes of Ephraim effected their release and assisted materially in their return.—2Ch 28:5-15.
16. A descendant of Levi through Kohath whose son Joel helped cleanse the temple at the command of Hezekiah in 745 B.C.E.—2Ch 29:1-12, 15.
17. A descendant of Levi through Merari; son of Jehallelel; one of those sharing in temple cleansing as ordered by Hezekiah.—2Ch 29:1-12, 15.
18. Son of Meraioth; an ancestor of Ezra.—Ezr 7:3.
19. Son of Hilkiah the high priest under Josiah and father of Seraiah (2Ki 22:3, 4; 1Ch 6:13, 14); forefather of Ezra the copyist.—Ezr 7:1.
20. Son of Hoshaiah. (Jer 43:2) He is also called Jezaniah (Jer 40:8; 42:1) and Jaazaniah (2Ki 25:23). Azariah was one of the chiefs of the military forces who supported Gedaliah (Jer 40:7-10); one who requested Jeremiah to pray in their behalf for direction (Jer 42:1-3); and, finally, one of “the presumptuous men” who repudiated Jehovah’s answer by the mouth of Jeremiah.—Jer 43:1-3.
21. One of the Hebrew youths taken captive to Babylon in 617 B.C.E., whose name was changed to Abednego, probably meaning “Servant of Nebo [a Babylonian god].” (Da 1:3-7) After a special three-year training course, Azariah and his companions (Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael) were found to be “ten times better than all the magic-practicing priests and the conjurers” of Babylon. (Da 1:5, 14-20) First threatened with death (Da 2:13-18), then promoted to the office of administrator (Da 2:49), Azariah’s supreme test of loyalty to Jehovah came when he was thrown into a superheated furnace for refusing to worship the image set up by Nebuchadnezzar. (Da 3:12-30) Indeed a man of faith, he is alluded to by the apostle Paul as one who “stayed the force of fire.”—Heb 11:34.
22. One who returned to Jerusalem with Zerubbabel in 537 B.C.E. following exile in Babylon. (Ne 7:6, 7) Called Seraiah at Ezra 2:2.
23. One of the priests who lived in Jerusalem following the exile. (1Ch 9:11) In a parallel list (Ne 11:11) the name is Seraiah. Possibly the same as No. 22 above.
24. Son of Maaseiah the son of Ananiah. Under Nehemiah’s oversight, he repaired a section of Jerusalem’s wall near his home in 455 B.C.E.—Ne 3:23, 24.
25. One appointed by Nehemiah to walk with Ezra and others in the procession upon the rebuilt wall of Jerusalem at its inauguration; perhaps the same as No. 27.—Ne 12:31-36.
26. One of the 13 Levites who assisted Ezra in explaining the Law as it was read to the people.—Ne 8:7, 8.
27. A priest, or the forefather of one, who in the days of Governor Nehemiah attested by seal to the “trustworthy arrangement.”—Ne 9:38; 10:1, 2, 8.
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AzazelInsight on the Scriptures, Volume 1
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AZAZEL
(A·zaʹzel) [Goat That Disappears].
The word “Azazel” occurs four times in the Bible, in regulations pertaining to Atonement Day.—Le 16:8, 10, 26.
The etymology of this word is disputed. If we hold to the spelling in the Hebrew Masoretic text, ʽazaʼ·zelʹ seems to be a combination of two root words meaning “goat” and “disappear.” Thus the meaning “Goat That Disappears.” According to another derivation, based on the belief that there has been a transposition of two consonants, it means “Strength of God.” The Latin Vulgate renders the Hebrew word as caper emissarius, that is, “the emissary goat,” or “the scapegoat.” And the Greek expression used in the Septuagint means “the one carrying away (averting) evil.”
Two goats (male kids) were obtained from the assembly of the sons of Israel by the high priest for use on the annual Day of Atonement. By the casting of lots, one goat was designated “for Jehovah,” and the other “for Azazel.” After a bull had been sacrificed for the high priest and his household (doubtless including all the Levites), the goat for Jehovah was sacrificed as a sin offering. However, the goat for Azazel was preserved alive for a time “before Jehovah to make atonement for it, so as to send it away for Azazel into the wilderness.” (Le 16:5, 7-10) Atonement for this live goat issued from the blood of the goat for Jehovah, which had just been killed as a sin offering, the life of the flesh being in the blood. (Le 17:11) The blood value, or life value, of the slain goat was thus transferred to the live goat, or the goat for Azazel. Thus, though it was not killed by the priest, this live goat bore upon it a sin-atoning merit or a value of life. The fact that it was presented before Jehovah evidently indicates that he recognized this transfer of merit or sin-atoning power. A correspondency with this was the prescribed manner of cleansing an Israelite who was healed of leprosy, or of cleansing a house healed of that plague. In this case a living bird was dipped in the blood of a bird that had been killed. The living bird was then permitted to fly away, carrying away sin.—Le 14:1-8, 49-53.
Both goats were to be unblemished, sound, and as much alike as possible. Before the casting of lots over them, both goats stood the chance of being selected as the goat for Jehovah. After sacrificing the goat for Jehovah, the high priest laid his hands upon the head of the living goat and confessed the sins of the people over it. This goat was then sent away, being taken into the wilderness by “a ready man.” (Le 16:20-22) The goat for Azazel thus symbolically carried off the people’s sins of the past year, disappearing with them into the wilderness.
The two goats were referred to as one sin offering. (Le 16:5) Two were used apparently to add emphasis to what was accomplished by this provision to atone for the sins of the people. The first goat was sacrificed. The second, having the sins of the people confessed over it and being sent far away into the wilderness, added force to the forgiveness that Jehovah grants to repentant ones. Psalm 103:12 gives the assurance: “As far off as the sunrise is from the sunset, so far off from us he has put our transgressions.”
As the apostle Paul explained, by Jesus’ offering of his own perfect human life as a sacrifice for the sins of mankind, he accomplished far more than had been achieved by “the blood of bulls and of goats.” (Heb 10:4, 11, 12) He thus served as “the scapegoat,” being the ‘carrier of our sicknesses,’ the one “pierced for our transgression.” (Isa 53:4, 5; Mt 8:17; 1Pe 2:24) He ‘carried away’ the sins of all who exercise faith in the value of his sacrifice. He demonstrated the provision of God to take sinfulness into complete oblivion. In these ways the goat “for Azazel” pictures the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
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AzaziahInsight on the Scriptures, Volume 1
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AZAZIAH
(Az·a·ziʹah) [Jehovah Has Proved Superior in Strength].
1. One of six harpists in the procession that brought the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem.—1Ch 15:21.
2. Father of Hoshea, the prince of the tribe of Ephraim in David’s time.—1Ch 27:16, 20, 22.
3. A Levite, one of the ten commissioners appointed by King Hezekiah to bring in the contributions to Jehovah’s house.—2Ch 31:12, 13.
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AzbukInsight on the Scriptures, Volume 1
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AZBUK
(Azʹbuk).
Father of prince Nehemiah, who lived at the same time, but is not the same individual, as the governor and Bible writer.—Ne 3:16.
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AzekahInsight on the Scriptures, Volume 1
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AZEKAH
(A·zeʹkah) [from a root meaning “dig up” [that is, hoe]].
A city in the Shephelah region, guarding the upper reaches of the Valley of Elah. The site is identified as Tell Zakariyeh (Tel ʽAzeqa), about 26 km (16 mi) NW of Hebron.
The first mention of the city occurs at Joshua 10:5-11 with regard to the combined attack of five Canaanite kings against Gibeon. Joshua and his army, coming to the relief of Gibeon, chased the Canaanite armies “as far as Azekah and Makkedah,” a distance of about 30 km (19 mi). The city was thereafter assigned to the tribe of Judah.—Jos 15:20, 35.
During the reign of King Saul (1117-1078 B.C.E.) the Philistines massed their forces between Socoh and Azekah, putting forth Goliath as their champion. When the Israelites arrived, the two armies faced each other across the Valley of Elah until David’s surprise victory over Goliath put the Philistines to flight.—1Sa 17:1-53.
At the division of the nation following Solomon’s death (c. 998 B.C.E.), King Rehoboam of Judah fortified Azekah along with Lachish and other strategic cities. (2Ch 11:5-10) Excavations made at Tell Zakariyeh reveal the remains of walls and towers and evidence of a fortified citadel at the location’s highest point.
When Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylonian troops overran the kingdom of Judah (609-607 B.C.E.), Azekah and Lachish were the last two fortified cities to fall before the overthrow of Jerusalem itself. (Jer 34:6, 7) Apparent confirmation of this was revealed by the discovery of the inscribed ostraca called the Lachish Letters. Letter number IV contains the following message, evidently directed by a military outpost to the military commander at Lachish, which reads in part: “we are watching for the signals of Lachish, according to all the indications which my lord hath given, for we cannot see Azekah.” (Ancient Near Eastern Texts, edited by J. B. Pritchard, 1974, p. 322) If, as seems to be the case, this letter was written at the time of the Babylonian attack, it would indicate that Azekah had already fallen so that no signals were being received from that fortress.
Following the 70-year period of desolation of the land, Azekah was one of the cities resettled by the returning Jewish exiles.—Ne 11:25, 30.
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AzelInsight on the Scriptures, Volume 1
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AZEL
(Aʹzel) [Distinguished Man].
1. A descendant of Saul through Jonathan; he had six sons.—1Ch 8:33-38; 9:43, 44.
2. A place mentioned in Zechariah 14:5 as the point to which the valley would reach as a result
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