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The Urim and
Thummim
What are the Urim and Thummim?
The
first place it is mentioned is in the book of Exodus in relation to the unique
and special clothing worn by the High Priest of Israel.
“And you shall
put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim (Hebrew: uriym,
Strong's Concordance #H224 which literally means "lights") and the Thummim
(Hebrew: tummiym, Strong's Concordance
#H8550 which literally means "perfections" or emblem of truth). And they shall
be upon Aaron's heart, when he goes in before the LORD. And Aaron shall bear
the judgment of the children of Israel . . . “ (Exodus 28:30, HBFV).
The
other places in the Bible the Urim and Thummim are directly referenced are
Leviticus 8:8, Numbers 27:21, Deuteronomy 33:8, 1 Samuel 28:6, Ezra 2:63 and
Nehemiah 7:65.
God
commanded that Israel's High Priest wear, when performing his priestly duties,
an ephod.
This
was a sacred vestment made skillfully from threads of gold, purple, blue, scarlet and
"fine twined linen" (Exodus 28:4-6).
Placed
on each shoulder of the Ephod was an onyx stone engraved with six of the names
of Israel's tribes (to represent, in total, the twelve tribes of Israel) listed
according to their order of birth (verse
10).
Attached
to the Ephod, via chains of gold, was a breastplate (also referred to as the "breastplate of judgment" in
Exodus 28:30) which had embedded in it precious stones arranged in four rows with
three stones in each row.
The
first or top row had a stone of sardius, topaz and a carbuncle.
The
second contained an emerald, sapphire and a diamond.
The
third row contained a ligure (jacinth), an agate and an amethyst, with the
fourth row having a beryl, onyx and jasper stone (verses
17 to 20).
Each
stone was put in a setting of gold and each had one of the names of the tribes
of Israel engraved upon it.
The
Bible does not directly state which tribe was engraved on each stone.
However,
the first century historian Josephus states the stones were labeled according
to the birth order of Israel's male children (Antiquities
of the Jews, Book 3, Chapter 7, Section 5).
The
Urim and Thummim were stored in a pouch, sewn into the breastplate, which was
placed directly over the priest's heart.
They
were put in this location to be a memorial before the Lord (Exodus 28:29).
The
Urim and Thummim were one of the main ways God conveyed his will to Israel (the
others being dreams and prophets, (see
1 Samuel 28:6).
Interestingly,
Scripture is silent regarding whether or not they were made, what they looked
like and so on.
It
is suggested, however, that since the word Urim means "lights" in
Hebrew that these objects may have been stones able to reflect light or allow
it to shine through them.
For
all practical purposes, these objects functioned something like lots which were
sometimes cast in order to render a decision.
Josephus,
who lived from 37 to about 100 A.D., implies in his writings that the Urim and
Thummim, used to solicit the Eternal's will, ceased to function two hundred
years prior to his writings due to the breaking of God's laws (Antiquities of the Jews, Book 3, Chapter 8, Section 9).
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