Thummim: Perfection (LXX., "truth;" Vulg., "veritas"),
(Exodus 28:30; Deuteronomy 33:8)
(Judges 1:1; 20:18; 1 Samuel 14:3,18; 23:9; 2 Samuel 21:1) What the "Urim and Thummim"
were cannot be determined with any certainty. All we certainly know is
that they were a certain divinely-given means by which God imparted,
through the high priest, direction and counsel to Israel when these
were needed. The method by which this was done can be only a matter of
mere conjecture. They were apparently material objects, quite distinct
from the breastplate, but something added to it after all the stones
had been set in it, something in addition to the breastplate and its
jewels. They may have been, as some suppose, two small images, like
the teraphim (comp.)
(Judges 17:5; 18:14,17,20; Hosea 3:4) which were kept
in the bag of the breastplate, by which, in some unknown way, the high
priest could give forth his divinely imparted decision when consulted.
They were probably lost at the destruction of the temple by
Nebuchadnezzar. They were never seen after the return from captivity.
