| 释义 |
‖ urim|ˈjʊərɪm|
[a. Heb. ūrīm, pl. intens., referred to ōr ‘light’, pl. ōrīm, and by some taken as = lights, ϕωτισµοί ‘illuminations’ (Symmachus).]
1. Certain objects, the nature of which is not known, worn in or upon the ‘breast-plate’ of the Jewish high-priest, by means of which the will of Jehovah was held to be declared.
Used chiefly in the collocation Urim and Thummim (once Thummim and Urim), occurring five times in the O.T. In the earlier English versions rendered after the Vulgate doctrina et veritas (from the LXX δήλωσις καὶ ἀλήθεια), whence Wyclif ‘doctryne [l.v. techyng] and trewthe’; Coverdale has ‘light and perfectnesse’, following Luther's licht und recht, but in the ‘Great’ Bible of 1539 and in later versions the words are left untranslated.
(a)1537Bible (Matthew's) Num. xxvii. 21 Eleazar y⊇ preast..shal aske councell for him after the iudgement of Urim before the Lorde. Ibid. 1 Sam. xxviii. 6 Nether by dreame nor by Urim nor yet by prophetes. 1598Sylvester Du Bartas ii. ii. Babylon 400 That never Vrim, Dream, or Vision sung Their Oracles, but all in Isaak's tongue. 1641Milton Ch. Govt. i. v, The Priests..had the Oracle of Urim to consult with. 1659J. Harrington Lawgiving ii. ii. 38 When God was enquired of by Urim, he gave his Oracle by the shining of certain stones or jewels in the breastplate of the high priest. 1737Whiston Josephus, Antiq. iii. viii. §9 note, The very last instance of any thing like the prophetic Urim among the Jewish nation.
(b)1537Bible (Matthew's) Exod. xxviii. 30 Thou shalt put in the brestlappe of iudgement vrim and Thumin. 1560Bible (Genev.) Deut. xxxiii. 8 Let thy Thummim and thine Vrim be wt thine holy one. 1595W. Clerke Polimanteia I 4, Concerning the reuelation done by Vrim and Thummim. 1613Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 198 Lord, doe it for [Aaron] the Priest, with Vrim and Thummim. 1671Milton P.R. iii. 14 Thy Counsel would be as the Oracle Urim and Thummim, those oraculous gems On Aaron's breast. a1763Shenstone Ess. Men & Mann. Wks. 1768 II. 229 An illiterate stupid preacher discoursing upon Urim and Thummim, and beating the pulpit cushion. 1768–74Tucker Lt. Nat. (1834) II. 343 In the course of the Levitical law,..answers by urim and thummim..gradually ceased. 1874Geo. Eliot Coll. Breakf. P. 144 An oracular gem in price beyond Urim and Thummim lost to Israel. 1877C. Geikie Christ I. 393 ‘The..prophet’, who should bring back the lost Urim and Thummim.
b. transf. and fig.
1618Bp. Hall Contempl., N.T. i. i. How little were the Jews better for this, when they had lost the Urim and Thummim, sincerity of doctrine and manners! a1652J. Smith Sel. Disc. v. 134 Whenever we look upon our own soul.., we shall find an Urim and Thummim there, by which we may ask counsel of God himself. a1670Hacket Abp. Williams i. (1693) 164 Conscience and Honour, the Urim and Thummim, with which the Noblest..should consult in all things. 1760–72H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1792) III. 19 Every mechanic professed, like Aaron, to carry a Urim and Thummim about him. 1825J. Neal Bro. Jonathan II. 193 He stood and spoke..like one to whom old age is..the sign of wisdom and power—the urim and thumim of survivorship. 1851Kingsley Yeast x, The heart..enshrines the priceless pearl of womanhood,..the ‘Urim and Thummim’, before which gross man can only inquire and adore. a1886W. B. Robertson Dream Foolish Virgin (1898) 17 And stars repeat it.., The Urim and the Thummim on the breastplate of the night.
2. Mormon Ch. (See quots.)
1843H. Caswall Proph. of 19th Cent. v. 77 The mystic Urim and Thummim, which appeared in the form of two transparent stones, set in the rim of a bow, like a pair of spectacles, and fastened to a golden breastplate. 1864Chambers's Encycl. VI. 569/2 Along with the records was found a curious instrument, called by Smith ‘Urim and Thummin’... By means of these stone spectacles [etc.]. |