In Matthew's account of Jesus Christ's crucifixion, the Barabbas incident appears to draw on elements of the Day of Atonement ritual, where two goats were presented before the high priest, one to be sacrificed and the other to be released. However, the events surrounding Barabbas starkly contrast with God's instructions for the ritual. While God directed the high priest to seek His will in determining the roles of the substitutes, Pontius Pilate, a Gentile governor who did not fear God, presumptuously allowed the people to choose between Jesus and Barabbas. The people and leaders opted for Jesus to be crucified and Barabbas to be released, not out of recognition of Jesus' role before God, but out of contempt for Him. Barabbas bore no sins that day, not even his own, as Pilate pardoned him, and no one led him outside the camp to symbolically bear the nation's sins under a divine curse. The notion that Barabbas could represent a sin offering is entirely inconsistent with God's sacrificial system, which demanded an unblemished substitute. Instead, Matthew may have included these elements to highlight how misaligned the people and leadership were with God's will during the crucifixion events.

In the Day of Atonement ritual involving two goats, the Hebrew text refers to the living goat as azazel (Leviticus 16:8, 10, 26), often translated as scapegoat. The interpretation with the most biblical support suggests that this goat prefigures Jesus Christ, with the Father laying our sins on His innocent head, just as the azazel bore the sins of the Israelites. Another interpretation posits that the live goat represents Satan, with humanity's sins placed on his head, though this lacks biblical support as Atonement contemplates only human sins. A less common interpretation, influenced by Jewish folklore, views azazel as a name of a lesser demon to whom the goat is sent, a notion contradicted by God's commands against acknowledging false gods. Instead, God commanded an Israelite to lead a substitutionary animal bearing the nation's sins away from the camp, calling that animal azazel, signifying complete removal.

The Day of Atonement, known as Yom Kippur, includes a unique ritual involving two goats as described in Leviticus 16, forming part of a significant cleansing ceremony performed annually by the high priest. The Hebrew term azazel, associated with the second goat, often translated as scapegoat, carries ambiguity in its meaning. Strong's Concordance defines azazel not as a name but as "goat of departure," with roots meaning "goat" and "to go away" or "disappear," while the Brown-Driver-Briggs Lexicon interprets it as "complete removal." These definitions align with the instructions in Leviticus 16, where the role of the azazel goat is to remove sins from view by bearing them to an uninhabited land. The two goats together constitute a single sin offering, with each fulfilling a distinct yet essential role. The first goat is designated for the Lord, sacrificed to satisfy His justice and cleanse His house, while the second, the azazel goat, serves the purpose of departure or removal of sin. Leviticus 16:8 describes the casting of lots to determine each goat's role, emphasizing that the decision is in God's hands, not man's. The azazel goat is presented alive before the Lord to make atonement upon or for it, indicating a sanctification process before it can fulfill its role of bearing the sins away. This ritual parallels the cleansing of leprosy in Leviticus 14, where two birds serve similar roles, one killed and the other set free after being dipped in the blood of the first, showing sanctification. Similarly, the azazel goat stands before the Lord, not for judgment but to be sanctified for its purpose. The single sin offering thus has two aspects: payment for sin through sacrifice and complete removal of sin from view and consciousness, demonstrating a comprehensive solution to the problem of sin through God's provision.