Thummim

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Thummim \Thum"mim\, n. pl. [Heb., pl. of th[=o]m perfection.]
     A mysterious part or decoration of the breastplate of the
     Jewish high priest. See the note under {Urim}.
     [1913 Webster]

From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:



  Thummim
     perfection (LXX., "truth;" Vulg., "veritas"), Ex. 28:30; Deut.
     33:8; Judg. 1:1; 20:18; 1 Sam. 14:3,18; 23:9; 2 Sam. 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. Judg. 17:5; 18:14,
     17, 20; Hos. 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.
     

From Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary (late 1800's) [hitchcock]:

  Thummim, perfection; truth