LOTS, HEBREW USE OF.

Urim and Thummim (§ 1).

Methods of Employment (§ 2).

The Lot in Common Life (§ 3).

1. Urim and Thummim

of wooden staves or arrows (rhab domancy, Hos. iv. 12; cf. Ezek. xxi. 21), employed also by Babylonians and by Arabs. But this and other methods of questioning the deity (necromancy, the conjuration of spirits, etc.) gradually fell into disrepute as heathenish magic, and the only legitimate form in the religion of Yahweh was that practised by the priest, tile casting of lots by means of the Urim and Thummim (q.v.). The way in which these lots were handled shows that they stood in the closest connection with the priestly Ephod (q.v.). When therefore Saul or David wished to ask counsel of Yahweh through the casting of lots, they said to the priest: "Bring hither the ephod" (I Sam. xiv. 18, Septuagint; A. V. " Bring hither the arkof God"; cf. xxiii.9, xxal.7). From I Sam. xiv. 37 sqq., Septuagint, it appears that the two lots bore the names Urim and Thummim. Saul prays before questioning the oracle: "If the sin is upon me or upon Jonathan, let Urim appear: if it is upon the people, then let Thummim appear" (cf. S. R. Driver, Hebrew Text of . . . Samuel, p. 89, Oxford, 1890). The proper explanation of the words Urim and ThW4" M no most probable one is that the Maim L two lots symbolized the two divisions of the earth's rotation, light and darkness, life and death, yea or no. Urim is light i or the full moon or the upperworld; Thummim (from a word meaning perfection) means sunset or under-world. Worn upon the breast, on the high priest's vestment, Urim and Thummim may be compared with the Babylonian tablets of fate which were given to Marduk, who wore them upon his breast.

Of what the lots consisted is nowhere stated. The principal facts concerning their use appear in several accounts in the Old Testament. The questions present a simple alternative which the lot

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2. Methods of Employment

sqq., xxx. 8; II Sam. ii. 1, v. 19; Judges ax. 23). At other times, the lot must decide between two possibilities; if, however, one possibility moat be determined from among a number, by the exclu sion of one possibility after another the number is reduced to two. An example of this is when Saul wishes to discover among the whole people the guilty one. Lots are first cast between the entire army on one aide and Saul and Jonathan on the other (I Sam. aiv. 38 sqq.; similarly in I Sam. ax. 20 sqq.; Josh. vii. 16 sqq.). Hence the lots con sisted of two objects, of some sort (staves, atones, or similar objects), one of which signified yea and the other no. In special cases, however, any ap propriate significance was attributed to one or the other. It may possibly be concluded from II Sam. aiv. 18 sqq. that Urim signified the affirmative, and Thnmm;m the negative. Inquiry was made as to the sin of Saul and Jonathan; if Urim came out, the sin was proved, if Thummim came out, it signified a negative answer and therefore that the sin rued upon the army. From the prophetic books it has been conjectured that Urim and Thum mim were two small idols, possibly teraphim, since teraphim are often mentioned in connection with the ephod (Hoe. iii. 4; of. Judges avii. 5); they also appear alongside of spirits and ghosts as employed in the consultation of oracles (H Kings asiii. 24). If Yahweh were angry, he did not reply; when, from certain happenings during the casting of the lots, the priest drew the conclusion that the divin ity was not willing to answer, he ceased further questioning. By II Sam. v. 23-24 it is indicated that the priest, on his own initiative, added cer tain explanations which he perhaps deduced from some of the accompanying circumstances. It follows from the foregoing that the privilege of casting the lots belonged exclusively to the priest, whose characteristic duties were precisely the wearing of the ephod and the casting of the lots. In Deuteronomy the care of the Urim and Thum mim is designated se an essential charge of the priest (Deut. xsxiii. 8). This possession may have contributed largely to make the priestly office hereditary, the knowledge and ability to handle the oracle being transmitted from father to son.