The ¸Ūrim and Tummim; What Were They?

Abstract

Amongst Biblical scholars the 'Urim and Tummim have provoked many discussions and occasioned much speculation. That they provided a means of ascertaining the will of God in matters affecting his people was manifest. But what they consisted of, and how they were used in the process of divination, have remained a mystery. Numerous explanations have been offered over a long range of years but none appears to have received general acceptance. It would appear that the nature and use of the Urim and Tummim had been lost in the mists of a long distant past. Yet from the few references made to them certain deductions could safely be drawn. They were clearly apparatus of the priestly oracle and are first mentioned in the description given of Aaron's raiment in Exodus 1). The parts of his attire which concern us are the 'breastplate of judgment' 2) and the ephod. The breastplate, as described in vv. 15ff, is evidently a bag or pocket measuring a span 3) square. It is of magnificent appearance, made up of gold, blue, purple and scarlet and fine twined linen. It is adorned with precious stones set in gold, twelve in number, each engraved with the name of one of the twelve tribes. This pocket of such great magnificence was attached to golden rings on the ephod by cords of gold threaded through corresponding rings of gold on the breastplate. Then Moses is instructed (v. 30): 'And thou shall put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Tummim; and they shall be upon Aaron's heart when he goeth in before the Lord'. The constituents of the ephod are roughly the same as for the breastplate. We shall return to the ephod later. And here we must take note of a significant addition to the Hebrew text. The Samaritan version, which with the Septuagint often amplifies the Masoretic Text to its better understanding, begins v. 30 with