Pertanyaan: 636. Apa Arti dari Urim dan Thummim?
Beberapa komentator dan penerjemah berbeda pendapat mengenai makna sebenarnya dari kata-kata tersebut. Beberapa penerjemah memberikan padanan sebagai cahaya dan kesempurnaan. "Urim" sinonim dengan "Teraphim" (cahaya atau api). Josephus mengidentifikasi Urim dan Thummim dengan batu sardoniks di pundak efod, yang bersinar saat semuanya menguntungkan dan gelap saat bencana mengancam. Yang lain berpendapat bahwa mereka adalah Nama Ilahi, satu dalam empat puluh dua huruf, yang lain dalam tujuh puluh dua huruf. Masih ada yang mengatakan bahwa mereka adalah simbol nubuat, dan banyak yang berpendapat bahwa Urim dan Thummim identik dengan dua belas batu di mana nama-nama suku diukir, dan bahwa mereka digunakan dalam konsultasi orakuler, batu-batu tersebut menjadi terang secara cepat sesuai dengan karakter pesan dan urutan huruf atau simbol yang diukir. Michaelis menulis bahwa Urim dan Thummim adalah tiga batu, di mana satu di antaranya tertulis "Ya," satu lagi "Tidak," sementara yang ketiga dibiarkan kosong atau netral, dan ini digunakan dalam undian dan dalam memutuskan bukti. Kalisch mengidentifikasinya dengan dua belas batu permata suku dalam keadaan terang. Imam besar, dengan memusatkan pikirannya pada kualitas yang mereka wakili, masuk ke dalam trans nubuat. Lightfoot dan yang lainnya mengambil pandangan yang sama. Sudah jelas bahwa Urim dan Thummim sudah dikenal oleh para patriark sebagai sarana yang ditetapkan untuk ramalan.
Question: 636. What Is the Meaning of "Urim and Thummim"?
Various commentators and translators have differed concerning the real meaning of the words. Some translators give its equivalent as "light and perfection." "Urim" is synonymous with "Teraphim" ("lights" or "fires"). Josephus identifies the Urim and Thummim with the sardonyxes on the shoulders of the ephod, which were bright when all was auspicious and dark when disaster threatened. Others held that they were the Divine Name, one in fortytwo letters, the other in seventy-two letters. Still others asserted that they were prophetic symbols, and there were many who held that the Urim and Thummim were identical with the twelve stones upon which the tribes' names were engraved, and that they were employed in oracular consultation, the stones becoming illuminated in rapid succession, according to the character of the message and the order in which the letters or engraved symbols were employed. Michaelis writes that the Urim and Thummim were three stones, on one of which was written "Yes," on another "No," while the third was left blank or neutral, and these were used in lot-drawing and in the deciding of evidence. Kalisch identifies them with the twelve tribal gems in a condition of illumination. The high priest, by concentrating his thoughts on the qualities they represented, passed into a prophetic trance. Lightfoot and others took the same view. It is quite clear that the Urim and Thummim were well known to the patriarchs as an appointed means of divination.
