Urim

3 definitions found

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

  Urim \U"rim\, n. [Heb. ?r[imac]m, pl. of ?r, fire ?r light.]
     A part or decoration of the breastplate of the high priest
     among the ancient Jews, by which Jehovah revealed his will on
     certain occasions. Its nature has been the subject of
     conflicting conjectures.
     [1913 Webster]


  
           Thou shall put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim
           and the Thummim.                         --Ex. xxviii.
                                                    30.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           And when Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord answered
           him not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by
           prophets.                                --1 Sam.
                                                    xxviii. 6.
     [1913 Webster]
  
     Note: Professor Plumptre supposes the Urim to have been a
           clear and colorless stone set in the breastplate of the
           high priest as a symbol of light, answering to the
           mystic scarab in the pectoral plate of the ancient
           Egyptian priests, and that the Thummim was an image
           corresponding to that worn by the priestly judges of
           Egypt as a symbol of truth and purity of motive. By
           gazing steadfastly on these, he may have been thrown
           into a mysterious, half ecstatic state, akin to
           hypnotism, in which he lost all personal consciousness,
           and received a spiritual illumination and insight.
           [1913 Webster]

From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:

  Urim
     lights (Vulg."doctrina;" LXX. "revelation"). See {THUMMIM}.
     

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

  Urim, lights; fires