The Old Testament
The Urim and the Thummim are briefly and cryptically mentioned in Exodus 28:30, in which God directs Moses to make "a breastpiece of judgment," to be worn by the high priest Aaron:
"In the breastpiece of judgment you shall put the Urim and the Thummim, and they shall be on Aaron's heart when he goes before the Lord; thus Aaron shall bear the judgment of the Israelites on his heart before the Lord continually."There is a similar reference in Leviticus 8:8. But apparently the Bible contains virtually no direct explanation of what the Urim and the Thummim actually are. They seem to be objects, since they are put in the breastplate. Based on 1 Samuel 14:41, scholars suggest that they were somehow used in divination by the high priest. These may have been objects (perhaps stones or bones) which were cast in attempting to discern God's answer to a yes-or-no question.
I hasten to add that these are the findings of biblical scholars, not my own. But I will offer this observation: the names Urim and Thummim are vaguely disturbing. I can barely pronounce them. Thummim is particularly bothersome. It contains too many "m" letters. Those words sound ancient, far removed from any modern language. They remind me of Bifur, Bofur and Bombur, the dwarves in The Hobbit, or something from an H.P. Lovecraft story.
The Mormon Connection
Joseph Smith, the founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (the Mormons), claimed that he possessed the Urim and the Thummim. He stated that this came about after he was visited in 1823 by the Angel Moroni, who had been sent by God.
The angel, Smith said, revealed the location of the breastplate of judgment, with the Urim and the Thummim attached, and golden tablets revealing "the fullness of the everlasting Gospel." Upon looking into the Urim and the Thummim (two "seer stones" set in silver bows), Smith claimed to receive revelations from God. He also claimed that he used the Urim and the Thummim to translate the tablets into at least part of what ultimately became The Book of Mormon.
There is much more to this story, involving magic spectacles, a sword, a second set of golden tablets, and the bizarre process by which the translation occurred (one witness claimed Smith dictated the words while gazing into his hat). The matter is complicated by conflicting accounts from Smith's associates, his wife and the prophet himself. Those with an interest can consult Fawn Brodie's excellent and objective biography of Smith. It reveals that in addition to Urim and Thummim, Joseph Smith had certain "peep stones" that enabled him to detect the presence of buried treasure of a very secular nature.
The New Age
Among New Age mystics, interest in the Urim and the Thummim continues to this day. Authors have published entire books on the subject, despite the fact that virtually nothing is known beyond what I've summarized above. And to my dismay, I have discovered products for sale which are supposed to be replicas of Urim and Thummim and the breastplate of judgment. In fact, I was given one of the latter years ago as a housewarming gift, and did not even know what it was supposed to be.
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