Exodus 28:30 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Exodus 28:30
And thou shalt put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Thummim; and they shall be upon Aaron’s heart, when he goeth in before the LORD: and Aaron shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel upon his heart before the LORD continually.
the heart · noun, common masculine singular construct
goeth
בְּבֹא֖וֹbe.vo.'O
H935
to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
before
לִפְנֵ֣יlif.Nei
H6440
the face (as the part that turns) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct
LORD
יְהוָ֑הYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
Aaron
אַ֠הֲרֹן'A.ha.ron
H175
Aharon · proper noun, a man's name
bear
וְנָשָׂ֣אve.na.Sa'
H5375
to lift · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
judgment
מִשְׁפַּ֨טmish.Pat
H4941
properly · noun, common masculine singular construct
children
בְּנֵיbe.nei-
H1121
a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine plural construct
Israel
יִשְׂרָאֵ֧לYis.ra.'El
H3478
Jisrael · proper noun, a place name
heart
לִבּ֛וֹli.Bo
H3820
the heart · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
before
לִפְנֵ֥יlif.Nei
H6440
the face (as the part that turns) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct
LORD
יְהוָ֖הYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
continually
תָּמִֽידta.Mid
H8548
properly · noun, common masculine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Ezra 2:63 And the Tirshatha said unto them, that they should not eat of the most holy things, till there stood up a priest with Urim and with Thummim.
Nehemiah 7:65 And the Tirshatha said unto them, that they should not eat of the most holy things, till there stood up a priest with Urim and Thummim.
Numbers 27:21 And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall ask counsel for him after the judgment of Urim before the LORD: at his word shall th…
Deuteronomy 33:8 And of Levi he said, Let thy Thummim and thy Urim be with thy holy one, whom thou didst prove at Massah, and with whom thou didst strive at…
Leviticus 8:8 And he put the breastplate upon him: also he put in the breastplate the Urim and the Thummim.
1 Samuel 28:6 And when Saul enquired of the LORD, the LORD answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets.
1 Samuel 30:7-8 And David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech’s son, I pray thee, bring me hither the ephod. And Abiathar brought thither the ephod to Da…
Hebrews 4:15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, ye…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Exodus 28:15-30
The most considerable of the ornaments of the high priest was this breast-plate, a rich piece of cloth, curiously wrought with gold and purple, etc., two spans long and a span broad, so that, being doubled, it was a span square, Exo 28:16. This was fastened to the ephod with wreathen chains of gold (Exo 28:13, Exo 28:14, Exo 28:22, etc.) both at top and bottom, so that the breast-plate might not be loosed from the ephod, Exo 28:28. The ephod was the garment of service; the breast-plate of judgment was an emblem of honour: these two must by no means be separated. If any man will minister unto the Lord, and do his will, he shall know his doctrine. In this breast-plate,
I. The tribes of Israel…
thou shalt put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and Thummim--The words signify "lights" and "perfections"; and nothing more is meant than the precious stones of the breastplate already described (compare Exo 39:8-21; Lev 8:8). They received the name because the bearing of them qualified the high priest to consult the divine oracle on all public or national emergencies, by going into the holy place--standing close before the veil and putting his hand upon the Urim and Thummim, he conveyed a petition from the people and asked counsel of God, who, as the Sovereign of Israel, gave response from the midst of His glory. Little, however, is known about them. But it may be remarked that Egypt…
Thou shalt put in the breastplate - the Urim and the Thummim - What these were has, I believe, never yet been discovered.
1. They are nowhere described.
2. There is no direction given to Moses or any other how to make them.
3. Whatever they were, they do not appear to have been made on this occasion.
4. If they were the work of man at all, they must have been the articles in the ancient tabernacle, matters used by the patriarchs, and not here particularly described, because well known.
5. It is probable that nothing material is designed. This is the opinion of some of the Jewish doctors. Rabbi Menachem on this chapter says, "The Urim and Thummim were not the work of the artificer; neither ha…
The Church Fathers
On this breastplate it is further carefully prescribed that the names of the twelve patriarchs should be engraved. For to carry always the fathers registered on the breast is to think without intermission on the lives of the ancients. For the priest then walks blamelessly when he pores continually on the examples of the fathers that went before him, when he considers without cease the footsteps of the Saints, and keeps down unlawful thoughts, lest he advance the foot of his conduct beyond the limit of order. And it is also well called the breastplate of judgment, because the ruler ought ever with subtle scrutiny to discern between good and evil. Hence in the same place it is written, "But thou shall put in the breastplate of Aaron doctrine and truth, which shall be upon Aaron's breast, when he goeth in before the Lord, and he shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel upon his breast in the sight of the Lord continually." For the priest's bearing the judgment of the children of Israel on his breast before the face of the Lord means his examining the causes of his subjects with regard only to the mind of the judge within, so that no admixture of humanity cleave to him in what he dispenses as standing in God's stead, lest private vexation should exasperate the keenness of his censure. And while he shews himself zealous against the vices of others, let him get rid of his own lest either latent grudge vitiate the calmness of his judgment, or headlong anger disturb it.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Carve — The arts of engraving and carving were much practised among the Jews. They were practised in connection with the construction of the tabernacle and the temple (Ex. 31:2, 5; 35:33; 1 Kings 6:18, 35;…
Carving — The arts of carving and engraving were much in request in the construction of both the tabernacle and the temple. (Exodus 31:5; 35:33; 1 Kings 6:18,35; Psalms 74:6) as well as in the ornamentation of…
Embroider — The art of embroidery was known to the Jews (Ex. 26:36; 35:35; 38:23; Judg. 5:30; Ps. 45:14). The skill of the women in this art was seen in the preparation of the sacerdotal robes of the high priest…
High Places6813 Priest — The first distinct separation of Aaron to the office of the priesthood, which previously belonged to the first-born was that recorded (Exodus 28:1) ... We find from the very first the following…
High priest — Aaron was the first who was solemnly set apart to this office (Ex. 29:7; 30:23; Lev. 8:12). He wore a peculiar dress, which on his death passed to his successor in office (Ex. 29:29, 30). Besides…
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.…
Urim And Thummim — (light and perfection). When the Jewish exiles were met on their return from Babylon by a question which they had no data for answering, they agreed to postpone the settlement of the difficulty till…
Breastplate · .Directions for the making of — .Directions for the making of
And thou shall put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Thummim,.... What these interpreters are at a loss about, both Jewish and Christian; some have confessed their ignorance of them, have conjectured they were only these two words and put in the duplicature of the breastplate; that the name of Jehovah, with other divine were put there and so called; and some have that they were little images, the same with the teraphim, the high priest carried in the folds of breastplate, by which consultation was made; others have thought them to be a work purely divine, of Jehovah's putting there; for my own part I am to follow Josephus (x), who takes them to be the same with the twelve stone…
And thou shalt put in the breastplate. From these words some infer that the Urim and Thummim were distinct from the whole work, which is before described; others think that they were the twelve stones, because no mention will be made of them when Moses relates that the whole was completed. But nothing is more probable, as I have already said, than that on the breastplate itself some representation was given of light in doctrine, and of entire uprightness of life; and therefore after Moses has called it "the breastplate of judgment," he also speaks of it as "the judgment of the children of Israel;" by which expression he means a certain and defined system, or an absolutely perfect rule, to wh…
Into this choshen Moses was to put the Urim and Thummim, that they might be upon his heart when he came before Jehovah, and that he might thus constantly bear the right (mishpat) of the children of Israel upon his heart before Jehovah. It is evident at once from this, that the Urim and Thummim were to bring the right of the children of Israel before the Lord, and that the breastplate was called choshen mishpat because the Urim and Thummim were in it. Moreover it also follows from the expression אל נתתּ, both here and in Lev 8:8, that the Urim and Thummim were not only distinct from the choshen, but were placed in it, and not merely suspended upon it, as Knobel supposes. For although the lxx…
The Urim and Thummim (Hebrew terms that might translate as lights [or curses] and perfections) were apparently a pair of stones that were thrown down to get a yes or no answer from God. No physical description of these objects exists; their use is further explained in Num 27:21; Deut 33:8; 1 Sam 28:6; Ezra 2:63; and Neh 7:65.
Rashi on Exodus 28:30
את האורים ואת התמים THE URIM AND THE THUMMIM — This was an inscription of the Proper Name of God which was placed between the folds (i. e. the two pieces forming the front and back) of the breast-plate through which it (the breast-plate) made its statements clear (lit., illuminated its words; מאיר from אור, light, this being an allusion to the אורים) and its promises true (מתמם from the root תמם, an allusion to תמים) (Yoma 73b). In the second Temple there was certainly the breast-plate (although other objects employed in the Temple Service were missing) for it was impossible that the High Priest should have lacked a garment, but that Divine Name was not within it. It was on account of the in…
Urim And Thummim · In the breastplate — In the breastplate
Urim And Thummin · Placed in the breastplate of the high priest — Placed in the breastplate of the high priest
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
