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Exodus 28 · a question people ask

What were the Urim and Thummim?

In the text

The text doesn't say what they looked like or how they worked. It says this much: Moses was to "put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Thummim; and they shall be on Aaron’s heart, when he goes in before the LORD" (28:30), and he did (Leviticus 8:8). Joshua was to stand before Eleazar the priest, "who shall inquire for him by the judgment of the Urim before the LORD" (Numbers 27:21). When Saul inquired, "the LORD didn’t answer him by dreams, by Urim, or by prophets" (1 Samuel 28:6). After the exile, priests whose family records could not be found were not to eat of the most holy things "until a priest stood up to serve with Urim and with Thummim" (Ezra 2:63). So the Urim had to do with asking the LORD for judgment, and the answer was his to give or hold back. Many guesses have been made about how they were used; the text doesn't settle them.

The verses

“You shall put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Thummim; and they shall be on Aaron’s heart, when he goes in before the LORD. Aaron shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel on his heart before the LORD continually.”
Exodus 28:30 · World English Bible
“He placed the breastplate on him. He put the Urim and Thummim in the breastplate.”
Leviticus 8:8 · World English Bible
“The LORD said to Moses, “Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him. Set him before Eleazar the priest, and before all the congregation; and commission him in their sight. You shall give authority to him, that all the congregation of the children of Israel may obey. He shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire for him by the judgment of the Urim before the LORD. At his word they shall go out, and at his word they shall come in, both he and all the children of Israel with him, even all the congregation.””
Numbers 27:18-21 · World English Bible
“When Saul inquired of the LORD, the LORD didn’t answer him by dreams, by Urim, or by prophets.”
1 Samuel 28:6 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Exodus 28

Exodus 28: On his heart

Aaron carried Israel's names twice, on his shoulders and on his heart, "before the LORD" (28:29). One verb, bear, runs through the chapter, all the way to "the iniquity of the holy things" (28:38). Hebrews says a high priest is called by God, "just like Aaron was" (Hebrews 5:4), and so was Christ (Hebrews 5:5); but he "lives forever" (Hebrews 7:24): "holy, guiltless, undefiled" (Hebrews 7:26).

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Last reviewed September 26, 2026. Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions