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making decisions for the Israelites over his heart before the Lord" (Exod. 28: 15, 30,
N.I.V.).
In agreement with this translation and with the view that the lot was cast by Urim and
Thummim is Moffatt's translation:
"Then you must make a judicial pouch . . . . . also you must put the sacred lots into the
judicial pouch . . . . . that Aaron may constantly bear on his heart before the Eternal
Israel's appeal for guidance" (Exod. 28: 15, 30, Moffatt).
Joshua's appointment was confirmed to the people by the Urim (Numb. 27: 21) and
these are also mentioned in Lev. 8: 8 and Deut. 33: 8. In I Sam. 28: 6 it is
recorded that "when Saul enquired of the Lord, the Lord answered him not, neither by
dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets". Thus we must not think that either the casting of
lots or the use of Urim and Thummim, or both, were the only ways the Lord used to
guide the people of Israel. There were others but the Urim and Thummim were
important. For example, when the Israelites returned from the Babylonian captivity some
claimed to be priests but they could not show their genealogy. These were not allowed to
eat holy things until a priest could stand up with Urim and Thummim and an answer be
obtained from God as to whether or not they were true Aaronic priests (Ezra 2: 63;
Neh. 7: 65).
It is interesting to note that nowhere in Scripture are the exact details of the Urim and
Thummim recorded, neither is it explained exactly how they were used. The construction
of many items for the tabernacle and temple and the clothes for the priest are described in
vivid details (e.g. the "judicial pouch" in Exod. 28: 12-29) but there is not even a
command from God to make the Urim and Thummim. Scripture merely records that
Moses was to put them in the "breastplate for making decisions", almost as if God had
given them to Moses Himself!
The Hebrew for Urim is Uwriym, the plural of uwr which is translated fire and light
and which comes from owr, a primitive root which means to be luminous (Strong).
The Hebrew for Thummim is Tummiym, the plural of tom which is translated full,
integrity, perfect, perfection, simplicity, upright, etc. and which comes from taman, a
primitive root which means complete (Strong).
That does not help us much and the problem of exactly what the Urim an Thummim
were is shown by the following quotation from the New and Concise Bible Dictionary:
Urim and Thummim:
The significance of these Hebrew words is "lights" and
"perfections".
The greatest help comes again from The Companion Bible note on Exod. 28: 30:
"The Hebrew Urim and Thummim means `lights' and `perfection'. Probably these are
the plural of majesty, the singular `light' (being put by Metonymy for what is brought to
light, i.e. guilt), and `perfection' (put by Metonymy for moral perfection, i.e. innocence).
Thus these two placed in the `bag', and one drawn out, would give the judicial decision
. . . . . which would be of the Lord."