Urim and Thummim

Biblical Texts

• Exodus 28:30: God commands Moses to put the Urim and Thummim in "the breastplate of judgment." Aaron is to bear them upon his heart when he goes in before the LORD. The breastplate was a chest covering fastened to the ephod and set with twelve stones engraved with the names of the twelve tribes of Israel (Exodus 28:15-29).
• Leviticus 8:8: When Moses consecrates Aaron as priest, he puts the Urim and Thummim in the breastplate.
• Numbers 27:21: Joshua stands before Eleazar the priest. Eleazar asks counsel "after the judgment of Urim before the LORD," and at his word the people go out and come in.
• Deuteronomy 33:8: In blessing the tribe of Levi, Moses says, "Let thy Thummim and thy Urim be with thy holy one."
• 1 Samuel 28:6: Saul inquired of the LORD, but the LORD answered him not, "neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets."
• Ezra 2:63; Nehemiah 7:65: After the return from exile, priests who could not verify their genealogy are told not to eat of the most holy things "till there stood up a priest with Urim and with Thummim." These verses are commonly read as indicating that the Urim and Thummim were no longer in use by that time.

Terminology and Background

The Hebrew word Urim is commonly interpreted as related to "light," and Thummim to "perfection" or "completeness," although the etymology is uncertain. The Septuagint rendered the terms with words meaning "manifestation and truth." Scripture does not say what the Urim and Thummim were made of, how many there were, or how they gave answers. In 1 Samuel 14:41, the Masoretic Text is brief, while the Septuagint contains a longer reading in which the Urim and Thummim are used to determine whether the guilt lay with Saul or with the people.

Significance in Scripture as a Whole

The Urim and Thummim served as a means by which the high priest, representing the people, sought God's will. From the period of the monarchy onward, it is chiefly the prophets who are portrayed as delivering the word of God. The New Testament does not mention the Urim and Thummim. The last instance of casting lots in Scripture is the selection of Matthias as an apostle (Acts 1:26). In light of passages such as Hebrews 1:1-3, which state that God has spoken by his Son, and of the guidance of the Holy Spirit, many Protestant interpreters understand this institution to have reached its fulfillment in Christ.

Interpretations and Debates

• Method of use: One view holds that the Urim and Thummim were two objects used in a form of lot-casting to determine "yes" or "no." Proverbs 16:33 is often cited in support: "The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the LORD." Later Jewish tradition, by contrast, preserves accounts in which the stones or letters of the breastplate gave answers by shining. The Jewish historian Josephus is also reported to have described the stones as shining. Such accounts, however, are not found in the biblical text.
• David and the ephod: The scenes in which David has the priest Abiathar bring the ephod so that he may inquire of God (1 Samuel 23:9-12; 30:7-8) are sometimes read in connection with the Urim and Thummim, though the text does not state this explicitly.
• Present-day application: Protestant denominations generally do not regard the Urim and Thummim as a means that continues today. They teach that God's will is now discerned through Scripture, prayer, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
• The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: This church claims that Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon by means of an instrument he called the "Urim and Thummim." Protestant denominations do not accept this as identical to the Urim and Thummim of the Bible.

In the Korean Church

These passages are often cited in sermons on seeking God's will. In such contexts, preachers sometimes use metaphors such as "the Urim and Thummim given to believers today are the Word and the Spirit."