Azael is named with Uzza in a rabbinic explanation of the scapegoat ritual. The reference is brief: in Yoma 67b, the school of Rabbi Ishmael connects the name Azazel with atonement for the deeds of Uzza and Azael. Later interpretations give the pair a fuller story of angelic transgression.
Azael in Yoma 67b
The surrounding Talmudic discussion asks how to understand the difficult word Azazel in the Day of Atonement ritual. Other explanations concern the roughness of the terrain and the cliff from which the goat is sent. The school of Rabbi Ishmael instead supplies an interpretation through the names of the two transgressors.
The expanded English presentation on Sefaria connects Uzza and Azael with the sons of God and daughters of men in Genesis 6. That explanatory setting should be distinguished from the short teaching about their deeds. The passage does not itself narrate their descent, describe Azael’s appearance, or call him a chief of tens.
Azael, Azzael and Azazel
Odeberg’s 1928 edition of 3 Enoch 4:6 prints Uzza, Azza and Azzael among the angels who object to Enoch’s heavenly elevation. Its notes compare these names with rabbinic fallen-angel traditions and discuss variations in the lists.
These texts are related witnesses, rather than a single continuous biography. Azazel also has its own ritual and Enochic contexts. The similarity of the names does not by itself prove either complete identity or absolute separation in every tradition. Azael’s entry therefore centers the named rabbinic reference while leaving those comparisons explicit.
Explore related entries
Read Azza, Azazel, Semyaza, the fallen-angel catalogue, or the guide to source traditions.