Exodus 28:30

30. The Urim and the Thummim Volumes have been written upon the significance of these mysterious words, but no one has succeeded in clearing the subject of its mystery . This verse shows that they should not be identified with the twelve stones mentioned above, (17-20,) but that they were something additional put in the breastplate; that is, according to the simplest import of the words, given or placed in the fold implied in the language of Exodus 28:16. This seems to have been in the form of a case or bag fitted to receive these special treasures . That they were some material things, like small pieces of wood or stone, is the most probable inference, but not a word have we anywhere from which we may judge of their form or size . They were formally delivered to Aaron along with the breastplate when he was consecrated to the high priest’s office, (Leviticus 8:8,) and were employed in asking counsel or judgment from Jehovah in respect to the going out or coming in of the children of Israel. Numbers 27:21. That they thus served to determine important movements may be inferred from 1 Samuel 22:15; 1 Samuel 23:9-12; 1 Samuel 28:6; 1Sa 30:7-8 ; 2 Samuel 2:1; but in what form or manner answers from Jehovah were obtained no one is able now to explain . They no longer existed after the exile, except as traditions of the past, and as possible means for solving difficulties which might again be restored to Israel in the good providence of God . Ezra 2:63; Nehemiah 7:65. Comp . Hosea 3:4.

The Hebrew words are in the plural, and according to their simplest etymology mean lights and perfections. The Septuagint translates by words in the singular, meaning revelation and truth. They have been conjectured to have been small images, like the teraphim of patriarchal times, (see Genesis 31:19,) and granted to the Israelites as a substitute for these, which they had persisted in retaining for purposes of divination . Thus it is supposed divine wisdom accommodated itself to the weakness and superstitions of the people, but after the word of prophecy arose in Israel these lower forms of communication gradually ceased . Josephus ( Ant . , 3: 8, 9) evidently identified the Urim and Thummim with the twelve stones above described, and says that they indicated the divine will or favor by giving out a brilliancy and splendour that were not natural to them at other times. Later rabbinical writers held that letters were inscribed upon these stones, and the divine answer was given by means of the letters, which became luminous one after another, so as thus to spell out words. Others have maintained that the high priest, when inquiring by these stones, was wont to stand in the holy place before the vail, and fix his gaze intently on them until he was seized by the spirit of prophecy, and distinctly heard the divine revelation proceeding from the glory of the Lord. According to Michaelis, ( Commentaries on Laws of Moses, vol. i, p. 261,) the Urim and Thummim were “three very ancient stones, which the Israelites before the time of Moses used as lots, one of them marked with an affirmative, a second with a negative, and the third blank or neutral.” Without adopting this particular view of the number and marking of the stones, many later writers have adopted the opinion that they were employed in some form of casting lots. Certainly, the casting of lots to ascertain some matter of uncertainty is often referred to, (comp. Leviticus 16:8; Numbers 26:55; Joshua 18:8; 1 Samuel 14:41-42,) but in such a way as not to suggest that inquiry through Urim and Thummim was thus performed, but rather the contrary. For why should such casting of lots have been resorted to if the Urim and Thummim already existed, and were given for the same purpose and were employed in the same manner?

It is manifest that all these notions of the form and use of the mysterious stones are purely conjectural, and no degree of certainty or authority attaches to any one of them. All that the Scripture affirms is, that they were some objects put in the breastplate of judgment, and were upon Aaron’s heart when he officiated in the holy place before the Lord. As the prophet received the divine revelation in a vision or in a dream, and as Moses was honoured by receiving it in still more open ways, (Numbers 12:6-8,) it is not improbable that the high priest was granted special and extraordinary revelations through some visible media, and as the anointed minister of the holiest places bore these sacred signs and media as witnesses of the judgment of the children of Israel upon his heart before the Lord continually. They were a perpetual sign and symbol of his being a chosen medium of communication between God and the people.