The high priests of the Jews, we are told, consulted
God in the most important affairs of their commonwealth, and received
answers by the Urim and Thummim. What these were, is disputed among the
critics. Josephus, and some others, imagine the answer was returned by
the stones of the breastplate appearing with an unusual lustre when it
was favourable, or in the contrary case dim. Others suppose, that the
Urim and Thummim were something enclosed between the folding of the
breastplate; this some will have to be the tetragrammaton, or the word
יהוה _Jehovah_. Christophorus de Castro, and after him Dr. Spencer,
maintain them to be two little images shut up in the doubling of the
breastplate, which gave the oracular answer from thence by an articulate
voice. Accordingly, they derive them from the Egyptians, who consulted
their _lares_, and had an oracle, or teraphim, which they called Truth.
This opinion, however, has been sufficiently confuted by the learned Dr.
Pococke and by Witsius. The more common opinion among Christians
concerning the oracle by Urim and Thummim, and which Dr. Prideaux
espouses, is, that when the high priest appeared before the veil,
clothed with his ephod and breastplate, to ask counsel of God, the
answer was given with an audible voice from the mercy seat, within the
veil; but, it has been observed, that this account will by no means
agree with the history of David’s consulting the oracle by Abiathar, 1
Sam. xxiii, 9, 11; xxx, 7, 8; because the ark, on which was the mercy
seat, was then at Kirjathjearim; whereas David was in the one case at
Ziklag, and in the other in the forest of Hareth. Braunius and Hottinger
have adopted another opinion: they suppose, that, when Moses is
commanded to put in the breastplate the Urim and Thummim, signifying
_lights_ and _perfections_ in the plural number, it was meant that he
should make choice of the most perfect set of stones, and have them so
polished as to give the brightest lustre; and, on this hypothesis, the
use of the Urim and Thummim, or of these exquisitely polished jewels,
was only to be a symbol of the divine presence, and of the light and
perfection of the prophetic inspiration; and, as such, constantly to be
worn by the high priest in the exercise of his sacred function,
especially in consulting the oracle.
Michaëlis observes: That in making distributions of property, and in
cases of disputes relative to _meum_ [mine] and _tuum_, [thine,]
recourse was had to the lot, in default of any other means of decision,
will naturally be supposed. The whole land was partitioned by lot; and
that, in after times, the lot continued to be used, even in courts of
justice, we see from Prov. xvi, 33; xviii, 18; where we are expressly
taught to remember, that it is Providence which maketh the choice, and
that therefore we ought to be satisfied with the decision of the lot, as
the will of God. It was for judicial purposes, in a particular manner,
that the sacred lot called Urim and Thummim was employed; and on this
account the costly embroidered pouch, in which the priest carried this
sacred lot on his breast, was called the judicial ornament. “But was
this sacred lot used likewise in criminal trials?” Yes, says Michaëlis,
only to discover the guilty, to convict them; for in the only two
instances of its use in such cases which occur in the whole Bible,
namely, in Joshua vii, 14–18, 1 Sam. xiv, 37–45, we find the confessions
of the two delinquents, Achan and Jonathan, annexed. It appears also to
have been used only in the case of an oath being transgressed which the
whole people had taken, or the leader of the host in their name, but not
in the case of other crimes; for an unknown murder, for example, was not
to be discovered by recourse to the sacred lot.
The inner sanctuary, within the veil of the tabernacle, observes Dr.
Hales, or most holy place, was called the oracle, 1 Kings vi, 16,
because there the Lord communed with Moses, face to face, and gave him
instructions in cases of legal difficulty or sudden emergency, Exod.
xxv, 22; Num. vii, 89; ix, 8; Exod. xxxiii, 11; a high privilege granted
to none of his successors. After the death of Moses a different mode was
appointed for consulting the oracle by the high priest, who put on “the
breastplate of judgment,” a principal part of the pontifical dress, on
which were inscribed the words Urim and Thummim, emblematical of divine
illumination; as the inscription on his mitre, “Holiness to the Lord,”
was of sanctification, Exod. xxviii, 30–37; Lev. viii, 8. Thus prepared,
he presented himself before the Lord to ask counsel on public matters,
not in the inner sanctuary, which he presumed not to enter, except on
the great day of national atonement, but without the veil, with his face
toward the ark of the covenant, inside; and behind him, at some
distance, without the sanctuary, stood Joshua, the judge, or person who
wanted the response, which seems to have been given with an audible
voice from within the veil, Num. xxvii, 21, as in the case of Joshua,
vi, 6–15; of the Israelites during the civil war with Benjamin, Judges
xx, 27, 28; on the appointment of Saul to be king, when he hid himself,
1 Sam. x, 22–24; of David, 1 Sam. xxii, 10; xxiii, 2–12; xxx, 8; 2 Sam.
v, 23, 24; of Saul, 1 Sam. xxviii, 6. This mode of consultation
subsisted under the tabernacle erected by Moses in the wilderness, and
until the building of Solomon’s temple; after which we find no instances
of it. The oracles of the Lord were thenceforth delivered by the
prophets; as by Ahijah to Jeroboam, 1 Kings xi, 29; by Shemaiah to
Rehoboam, 1 Kings xii, 22; by Elijah to Ahab, 1 Kings xvii, 1; xxi,
17–29; by Michaiah to Ahab and Jehoshaphat, 1 Kings xxii, 7; by Elisha
to Jehoshaphat and Jehoram, 2 Kings iii, 11–14; by Isaiah to Hezekiah, 2
Kings xix, 6–34; xx, 1–11; by Huldah to Josiah, 2 Kings xxii, 13–20; by
Jeremiah to Zedekiah, Jer. xxxii, 3–5, &c. After the Babylonish
captivity, and the last of the prophets, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi,
the oracle ceased; but its revival was foretold by Ezra, ii, 63, and
accomplished by Christ, who was himself the oracle, under the old and
new covenants, Gen. xv, 1; John i, 1. See BREASTPLATE.
God in the most important affairs of their commonwealth, and received
answers by the Urim and Thummim. What these were, is disputed among the
critics. Josephus, and some others, imagine the answer was returned by
the stones of the breastplate appearing with an unusual lustre when it
was favourable, or in the contrary case dim. Others suppose, that the
Urim and Thummim were something enclosed between the folding of the
breastplate; this some will have to be the tetragrammaton, or the word
יהוה _Jehovah_. Christophorus de Castro, and after him Dr. Spencer,
maintain them to be two little images shut up in the doubling of the
breastplate, which gave the oracular answer from thence by an articulate
voice. Accordingly, they derive them from the Egyptians, who consulted
their _lares_, and had an oracle, or teraphim, which they called Truth.
This opinion, however, has been sufficiently confuted by the learned Dr.
Pococke and by Witsius. The more common opinion among Christians
concerning the oracle by Urim and Thummim, and which Dr. Prideaux
espouses, is, that when the high priest appeared before the veil,
clothed with his ephod and breastplate, to ask counsel of God, the
answer was given with an audible voice from the mercy seat, within the
veil; but, it has been observed, that this account will by no means
agree with the history of David’s consulting the oracle by Abiathar, 1
Sam. xxiii, 9, 11; xxx, 7, 8; because the ark, on which was the mercy
seat, was then at Kirjathjearim; whereas David was in the one case at
Ziklag, and in the other in the forest of Hareth. Braunius and Hottinger
have adopted another opinion: they suppose, that, when Moses is
commanded to put in the breastplate the Urim and Thummim, signifying
_lights_ and _perfections_ in the plural number, it was meant that he
should make choice of the most perfect set of stones, and have them so
polished as to give the brightest lustre; and, on this hypothesis, the
use of the Urim and Thummim, or of these exquisitely polished jewels,
was only to be a symbol of the divine presence, and of the light and
perfection of the prophetic inspiration; and, as such, constantly to be
worn by the high priest in the exercise of his sacred function,
especially in consulting the oracle.
Michaëlis observes: That in making distributions of property, and in
cases of disputes relative to _meum_ [mine] and _tuum_, [thine,]
recourse was had to the lot, in default of any other means of decision,
will naturally be supposed. The whole land was partitioned by lot; and
that, in after times, the lot continued to be used, even in courts of
justice, we see from Prov. xvi, 33; xviii, 18; where we are expressly
taught to remember, that it is Providence which maketh the choice, and
that therefore we ought to be satisfied with the decision of the lot, as
the will of God. It was for judicial purposes, in a particular manner,
that the sacred lot called Urim and Thummim was employed; and on this
account the costly embroidered pouch, in which the priest carried this
sacred lot on his breast, was called the judicial ornament. “But was
this sacred lot used likewise in criminal trials?” Yes, says Michaëlis,
only to discover the guilty, to convict them; for in the only two
instances of its use in such cases which occur in the whole Bible,
namely, in Joshua vii, 14–18, 1 Sam. xiv, 37–45, we find the confessions
of the two delinquents, Achan and Jonathan, annexed. It appears also to
have been used only in the case of an oath being transgressed which the
whole people had taken, or the leader of the host in their name, but not
in the case of other crimes; for an unknown murder, for example, was not
to be discovered by recourse to the sacred lot.
The inner sanctuary, within the veil of the tabernacle, observes Dr.
Hales, or most holy place, was called the oracle, 1 Kings vi, 16,
because there the Lord communed with Moses, face to face, and gave him
instructions in cases of legal difficulty or sudden emergency, Exod.
xxv, 22; Num. vii, 89; ix, 8; Exod. xxxiii, 11; a high privilege granted
to none of his successors. After the death of Moses a different mode was
appointed for consulting the oracle by the high priest, who put on “the
breastplate of judgment,” a principal part of the pontifical dress, on
which were inscribed the words Urim and Thummim, emblematical of divine
illumination; as the inscription on his mitre, “Holiness to the Lord,”
was of sanctification, Exod. xxviii, 30–37; Lev. viii, 8. Thus prepared,
he presented himself before the Lord to ask counsel on public matters,
not in the inner sanctuary, which he presumed not to enter, except on
the great day of national atonement, but without the veil, with his face
toward the ark of the covenant, inside; and behind him, at some
distance, without the sanctuary, stood Joshua, the judge, or person who
wanted the response, which seems to have been given with an audible
voice from within the veil, Num. xxvii, 21, as in the case of Joshua,
vi, 6–15; of the Israelites during the civil war with Benjamin, Judges
xx, 27, 28; on the appointment of Saul to be king, when he hid himself,
1 Sam. x, 22–24; of David, 1 Sam. xxii, 10; xxiii, 2–12; xxx, 8; 2 Sam.
v, 23, 24; of Saul, 1 Sam. xxviii, 6. This mode of consultation
subsisted under the tabernacle erected by Moses in the wilderness, and
until the building of Solomon’s temple; after which we find no instances
of it. The oracles of the Lord were thenceforth delivered by the
prophets; as by Ahijah to Jeroboam, 1 Kings xi, 29; by Shemaiah to
Rehoboam, 1 Kings xii, 22; by Elijah to Ahab, 1 Kings xvii, 1; xxi,
17–29; by Michaiah to Ahab and Jehoshaphat, 1 Kings xxii, 7; by Elisha
to Jehoshaphat and Jehoram, 2 Kings iii, 11–14; by Isaiah to Hezekiah, 2
Kings xix, 6–34; xx, 1–11; by Huldah to Josiah, 2 Kings xxii, 13–20; by
Jeremiah to Zedekiah, Jer. xxxii, 3–5, &c. After the Babylonish
captivity, and the last of the prophets, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi,
the oracle ceased; but its revival was foretold by Ezra, ii, 63, and
accomplished by Christ, who was himself the oracle, under the old and
new covenants, Gen. xv, 1; John i, 1. See BREASTPLATE.