Thummim
Perfection (LXX., “truth;” Vulg., “veritas”), Ex 28:30; Deut 33:8; Judg 1:1; Judg 20:18; 1 Sam 14:3, 1 Sam 14:18; 1 Sam 23:9; 2 Sam 21:1. What the “Urim and Thummim” were cannot be determined with any certainty. All we certainly know is that they were a certain divinely-given means by which God imparted, through the high priest, direction and counsel to Israel when these were needed. The method by which this was done can be only a matter of mere conjecture. They were apparently material objects, quite distinct from the breastplate, but something added to it after all the stones had been set in it, something in addition to the breastplate and its jewels. They may have been, as some suppose, two small images, like the teraphim (comp. Judg 17:5; Judg 18:14, Judg 18:17, Judg 18:20; Hos 3:4), which were kept in the bag of the breastplate, by which, in some unknown way, the high priest could give forth his divinely imparted decision when consulted. They were probably lost at the destruction of the temple by Nebuchadnezzar. They were never seen after the return from captivity.
Named in the Bible
5 verses
- Exodus 28:30 And thou shalt put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Thummim; and they shall be upon Aaron's heart, when he goeth in before the LORD: and Aaron shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel upon his heart before the LORD continually.
- Leviticus 8:8 And he put the breastplate upon him: also he put in the breastplate the Urim and the Thummim.
- Deuteronomy 33:8 And of Levi he said, Let thy Thummim and thy Urim be with thy holy one, whom thou didst prove at Massah, and with whom thou didst strive at the waters of Meribah;
- Ezra 2:63 And the Tirshatha said unto them, that they should not eat of the most holy things, till there stood up a priest with Urim and with Thummim.
- Nehemiah 7:65 And the Tirshatha said unto them, that they should not eat of the most holy things, till there stood up a priest with Urim and Thummim.
From Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897), by Matthew George Easton.
