Urim

The Urim (meaning: lights) were part of the sacred divinatory objects — the Urim and Thummim — placed in the breastplate of the high priest and used to determine the divine will in matters of national importance (Ex. 28:30; Lev. 8:8; Num. 27:21; Deut. 33:8). The precise nature of the Urim and Thummim is unknown: proposals include two stones or lots that gave binary (yes/no) answers, a set of twelve stones associated with the twelve tribes, or sacred objects of unknown form. The Septuagint renders Urim and Thummim as "revelation" and "truth" (or "manifestation" and "truth"), suggesting an oracular function.

The Urim and Thummim were used throughout the period of the Judges and early monarchy — Joshua inquired of God through the priest Eleazar using the Urim (Num. 27:21), and Saul's failure to receive an answer via Urim at Gilboa signaled divine abandonment (1 Sam. 28:6). They were absent from the second temple but expected to return in the messianic age (Ezra 2:63; Neh. 7:65). Their function was replaced in the new covenant era by the indwelling Spirit and the completed prophetic word.