Urim and Thummim

Home > ... > Philosophy and Religion > The Bible > Biblical Proper Names > ...

Essential reading Compare
side-by-side The Concise Oxford Dictionary ... The Oxford Dictionary of ... The Columbia Encyclopedia, ...

Urim and Thummim

Urim and Thummim , in the Bible, name of sacred instruments used for casting lots . The meaning of the two names is uncertain, as is the nature of the lots. They were in some way connected, however, with the ephod .

Create a link to this page

Copy and paste this link tag into your Web page or blog:

<a href="http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/.aspx#1E1-UrimNThu" title="Facts and information about Urim and Thummim">Urim and Thummim</a>

Give this article a thumbs-up on StumbleUpon

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

MLA
Chicago
APA

"Urim and Thummim." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 24 Nov. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"Urim and Thummim." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. (November 24, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-UrimNThu.html

"Urim and Thummim." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Retrieved November 24, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-UrimNThu.html

Learn more about citation styles

Urim and Thummim

The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable | 2006 | | Â© The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable 2006, originally published by Oxford University Press 2006. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

Urim and Thummim two objects of a now unknown nature, possibly used for divination, worn on the breastplate of a Jewish high priest. They are first mentioned in the Bible at Exodus 28:30, and the role of Urim is hinted at in Numbers 27:21 and I Samuel 28:6.

Create a link to this page

Copy and paste this link tag into your Web page or blog:

<a href="http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/.aspx#1O214-UrimandThummim" title="Facts and information about Urim and Thummim">Urim and Thummim</a>

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

MLA
Chicago
APA

ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Urim and Thummim." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. Oxford University Press. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 24 Nov. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Urim and Thummim." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. Oxford University Press. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (November 24, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-UrimandThummim.html

ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Urim and Thummim." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. Oxford University Press. 2006. Retrieved November 24, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-UrimandThummim.html

Learn more about citation styles

Urim and Thummim

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions | 1997 | | Â© The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions 1997, originally published by Oxford University Press 1997. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

Urim and Thummim. A priestly device for telling oracles in the ancient Israelite religion. The high priest wore the Urim and Thummim on his breastplate. It was used for questioning God on behalf of the ruler (Numbers 27. 21) and it seems to have given a ‘yes-or-no’ answer (1 Samuel 23. 10–12). The underlying meaning of the two words is not known.

Create a link to this page

Copy and paste this link tag into your Web page or blog:

<a href="http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/.aspx#1O101-UrimandThummim" title="Facts and information about Urim and Thummim">Urim and Thummim</a>

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

MLA
Chicago
APA

JOHN BOWKER. "Urim and Thummim." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. 24 Nov. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

JOHN BOWKER. "Urim and Thummim." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. (November 24, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O101-UrimandThummim.html

JOHN BOWKER. "Urim and Thummim." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. 1997. Retrieved November 24, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O101-UrimandThummim.html

Learn more about citation styles

Related entries from encyclopedias, dictionaries and thesauruses

Rate these entries|See all related entries

Free newspaper and magazine articles

Nashville Film Festival Lineup, World Premieres, Panels and Special Guests Announced.
Business Wire; 3/28/2007

Facts and information from other sites

Related articles from newspapers, magazines, and more

	The Urim and Thummim: A Means of Revelation in Ancient Israel Magazine article from: Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society; 9/1/1999; ; 700+ words ; The Urim and Thummim: A Means of Revelation in Ancient Israel. By Cornelis Van Dam. Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 1997, 296 pp., $34.50. "Urim" and "Thummim" (UT) are the Hebrew names for the object or objects used by...
	Priests, Prophets, Diviners, Sages: A Socio-historical Study of Religious Specialists in Ancient Israel Magazine article from: Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society; 12/1/1999; ; 700+ words ; ...pictures it as an acceptable means of inquiring of God by pointing to Joseph's divining cup (Gen 37:19), the Urim, Thummim, and ephod, the household gods, and by claiming that "all inquiry language" is evidence of divination (pp. 124...
	Undivided inheritance and lot casting in the book of Joshua Magazine article from: Journal of Biblical Literature; 1/1/2000; ; 700+ words ; ...for the casting of lots.4 R. G. Boling and G. E. Wright associated the procedure with the Levitical use of the Urim and Thummim as described in Deut 33:8. The allotment of the land was determined according to the "sacred dice," which revealed...
	Sage, Priest, Prophet: Religious and Intellectural Leadership in Ancient Israel Magazine article from: Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society; 12/1/1999; ; 700+ words ; ...Israelite way of life. Blenkinsopp traces the development of the priesthood from early divination by the use of the Urim and Thummim, through the early priests at Shiloh and concludes with the rise of Zadok and the complex view of priesthood in Chronicles...
	Cultural Anthropology and the Old Testament Magazine article from: Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society; 6/1/1999; ; 700+ words ; ...chapter proposes that divination was very common in ancient Israel, even though only certain kinds (such as lots, Urim and Thummim, and dream interpretation) apparently would have been acceptable to the prevailing theology; the second section...
	The Gospel according to Mystic Meg : Faith and Reason Newspaper article from: The Independent - London; 1/28/1995; ; 700+ words ; ...signs, has a central place in God's methodology in both the Old and the New Testament. The High Priestused the urim and thummim (whatever they were; probably two stones) for getting a "yes/no" decision from God. Jonah and the storm...
	Ancient Texts for the Study of the Hebrew Bible: A Guide to the Background Literature Magazine article from: The Catholic Biblical Quarterly; 10/1/2006; ; 700+ words ; ...Psephomancy, a Mesopotamian ritual of selecting colored stones from a sack or garment, is similar to the rituals of the Urim and Thummim and was the only Mesopotamian divination technique sanctioned by Israel. In terms of law, S. believes that the...
	Ask God: Divine Consultation in the Literature of the Hebrew Bible Magazine article from: The Catholic Biblical Quarterly; 4/1/2004; ; 700+ words ; ...8); and in his battle against the Philistines and his crisis with Jonathan, Saul uses both the ephod and the Urim and Thummim (1 Samuel 14). In any consultation there is an expectation that there will be a divine response and that it will...
	The book of Mormon and the future of Mormonism.(Religion) Magazine article from: Quadrant; 5/1/2004; ; 700+ words ; ...the stone, and with a little exertion raised it up. I looked in, and there indeed did I behold the plates, the Urim and Thummim, and the breastplate, as stated by the messenger. The box in which they lay was formed by laying stones together...
	Dear Santa: Utah politicos have Christmas wishes Newspaper article from: Deseret News (Salt Lake City); 12/21/2008; ; 700+ words ; ...Republicans, now needed because of the departure of longtime leader Mike Dmitrich. House Republicans: Hoping for a Urim and Thummim to decipher the deep inscrutability and obfuscations of new Senate President Michael Waddoups. Conservative Caucus...