출애굽기 28:30의 주석

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 inscription which constituted the Urim and Thummim and which enabled it to give decisions that it was called “judgment”, as it is said, (Numbers 27:21) “And he shall enquire for him by the judgment of the Urim” (Numbers 27:21).

AND THOU SHALT PUT IN THE BREASTPLATE OF JUDGMENT THE URIM AND THE THUMMIM. Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra thought to display wisdom in the matter of the Urim and the Thummim, by saying that they were made by a craftsman from gold and silver, and he continued his discussion of them in this vein, for he thought that they were akin to the forms which the astrologers make in order to know the thoughts of the one who comes to ask of them [about the future]. But what [Ibn Ezra] said is of no import. Rather, the Urim and the Thummim are as Rashi has written: “This was an inscription of the Proper Name of G-d which was placed between the folds of the breastplate.” It was for this reason that the breastplate had to be double⁷³Verse 16. [i.e., made of a material that was folded in order to form a sort of bag, into which the Urim and the Thummim — the sacred Names of G-d, as explained further on, — were placed by Moses]. The proof for this is that in the work of the craftsmen the Urim and the Thummim are not mentioned at all, neither in the command nor in the [description of the] making thereof. Now concerning the garments He details: And he made the ephod,⁷⁴Further, 39:2. and he made the breastplate,⁷⁵Ibid., Verse 8. but it does not say, “and he made the Urim and the Thummim.” And if it were the work of a skilled engraver He would have dealt with it in greater length than with all [the garments]. Even if perhaps He desired to shorten the discussion about them on account of their profundity, He would at least have said here, “and thou shalt make the Urim and the Thumim as it has been shown to you in the mount; of pure gold — or purified silver — you shall make them.” moreover, you will notice that He did not use the definite article in connection with any of the vessels [of the Tabernacle] which had not been previously mentioned. Instead, He said, and they shall make an ark;⁷⁶Above, 25:10. and thou shalt make a table;⁷⁷Ibid., Verse 23. and thou shalt make a candelabrum,⁷⁸Ibid., Verse 31 and thus too in connection with all of them. In the case of the Tabernacle, however, He said, And thou shalt make ‘the’ Tabernacle,⁷⁹Ibid., 26:1. because He had already mentioned it [in saying], And let them make Me a Sanctuary.⁸⁰Ibid., 25:8. Now with reference to the Urim and the Thummim He said, And thou shalt put in the breastplate of judgment ‘the’ Urim and ‘the’ Thummim. He did not command him as to the making of them, and yet Scripture mentions them with the definite article! Moreover, Scripture mentions them with reference to Moses only, saying by way of command, and thou shalt put in the breastplate of judgment…; similarly, at the time of making them it says, and in the breastplate he put the Urim and the Thummim,⁸¹Leviticus 8:8. since they were not the work of craftsmen. Neither craftsmen nor the congregation of Israel had any part whatsoever in their making or in their donation, for they were a secret transmitted by the Almighty to Moses, and he wrote them in holiness. They⁸²In Ricanti [quoting the language of Ramban]: “Or they were…” were thus of heavenly origin, and therefore they are referred to without any specification and with the definite article, in a similar usage to that which we have in the verse, and He placed at the east of the garden of Eden the cherubim.⁸³Genesis 3:24. Here too Scripture uses the definite article [‘the’ cherubim] and yet nowhere previously do we read concerning them (Bachya). Now Moses took the inscription of the Urim and the Thummim, and placed them in the breastplate of judgment after he had clothed Aaron with the ephod and the breastplate, as it is said, And he put the ephod upon him, and he girded him with the skilfully-woven band of the ephod… And he placed the breastplate upon him; and in the breastplate he put the Urim and the Thummim.⁸⁴Leviticus 8:7-8. For only after [Aaron was already clothed with the ephod and the breastplate] did Moses place the Urim and the Thummim between the folds of the breastplate.
Thus the Urim and the Thummim were the holy Names of G-d, and it was by virtue of the power residing in these Names that the letters inscribed upon the stones of the breastplate would light up before the eyes of the priest who inquired of their judgment.⁸⁵Numbers 27:21. For example, when they inquired, Who shall go up for us first against the Canaanites, to fight against them,⁸⁶Judges 1:1. — Scripture continues [in Verse 2]: And the Eternal said: ‘Yehudah ya’aleh’ (Judah shall go up). the priest fixed his thoughts on those Divine Names which were the Urim [literally: “lights”], and the letters forming the name Yehudah lighted up before his eyes, and [for the word ya’aleh — “he shall go up”] the letter yod lighted up from the word Levi,⁸⁷The twelve stones in the breastplate bore the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. Since there was no letter tzade amongst these names, the patriarchs’ names [Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov] were also inscribed upon the stones. Finally to include the letter tet the words shivtei Y-ah (“the tribes of G-d”) were also written upon them (Yoma 73 b). The answer given to the priest who inquired of the Urim and Thummim was through the gleaming forth of the letters written upon the stones. Thus when the tribes asked, Who shall go up for us first against the Canaanites? the name Yehudah gleamed forth, and as for the word ya’aleh, the yod of Levi lighted up etc. the ayin from Shimon, the lamed from Levi, and the hei from Avraham which was also written there, according to the opinion of our Rabbis,⁸⁸Yoma 73b. See Note above. or perhaps the hei from Yehudah lighted up a second time. Now when the letters lighted up before the eyes of the priest, he did not yet know their arrangement [that is, how these letters were to be grouped together into words], for from the letters forming the words Yehudah ya’aleh (Judah shall go up), it is possible to form the words: hoy heid alehah,⁸⁹“The echo of woe upon it.” or hie al Yehudah,⁹⁰“Lamentation upon Judah.” and very many other words. But then there were other sacred Divine Names [in the fold of the breastplate] called Thummim [literally: “perfection”], through whose power the priest’s heart was made perfect to understand the meaning of the letters which lighted up before his eyes. Thus, when he fixed his thoughts on the Divine Names in the Urim, and the letters lighted up, he would then immediately turn and fix his thoughts on the Divine Names in the Thummim, whilst the letters [of the Urim] were still lit up before him, and then it came to his mind that they combine to form the words Yehudah ya’aleh (Judah shall go up). This knowledge [of how to combine the letters that lit up in the breastplate into words], is one level of the degrees of Ruach Hakodesh.⁹¹Literally: “The Holy Spirit.” See Moreh Nebuchim II, 45, beginning: “second degree of prophecy.” It is lower than prophecy, and higher than the Bath Kol⁹²Literally: “echo” or “reverberating sound.” It is here used in the sense of a Divine Voice which on certain occasions was heard coming forth from the Holy of Holies (Sotah 33 a). which served [Israel] in the Second Sanctuary after prophecy had ceased, and after the Urim and Thummim had ceased, just as our Rabbis have mentioned.⁹³Yoma 21b. It is possible that after Moses placed the sacred Names of the Urim and Thummim in the breastplate, they became known to the great Sages of Israel, having been transmitted to them from Moses together with the secrets of the Torah. Hence we find that David possessed an ephod⁹⁴I Samuel 23:6., which was similar to the ephod of Moses, and together with it was a breastplate similar to the holy breastplate [in the Tabernacle]. It appears, however, that [instead of being made of gold, blue-purple etc.] it was made of linen, just as it says of Samuel that he was a child, girden with a linen ephod,⁹⁵Ibid., 2:18. and of Nob, the city of priests, it is said, fourscore and five persons that did wear a linen ephod.⁹⁶Ibid, 22:18. They would clothe a priest who was of the sons of the prophets,⁹⁷II Kings 4:1. A term denoting the disciples of the prophets, or those who sought the prophetic gift. and inquire of him [regarding certain events] and at times they were answered, just as Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra thought on this point. However, as far as that which he [Ibn Ezra] said, that if [Rashi] had seen the responsum of Rabbeinu Hai,⁹⁸The last of the Gaonim. He was a son of Rabbeinu Sherira Gaon (see Vol. I, p. 97, Note 477). — Rabbeinu Hai Gaon wrote in a responsum that by invoking the Proper Name of G-d, or the names of the angels, one could not predict future events. Using this responsum as a basis, Ibn Ezra commented that if Rashi had seen this responsum he would not have written that the Urim and Thummim were inscriptions of the Proper Name of G-d etc. [as quoted above]. — To this comment of Ibn Ezra, Ramban answers caustically: “We have already seen this responsum of Rabbeinu Hai and have pondered its meaning, and we do know that it was Ibn Ezra’s understanding that did not grasp it.” he would not have explained as he did, [that the Urim and Thummim were inscriptions of the Proper Name of G-d] — now we have already seen that responsum and have considered it, and we know [for a certainty] that it was Rabbi Abraham whose opinion [shows that he] did not grasp it.

משפט בני ישראל על לבו, so that he will pray on their behalf that they would emerge exonerated in any judicial confrontation.