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Bible Dictionaries
Breastplate
Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary
or or PECTORAL, one part of the priestly vestments, belonging to the Jewish high priests. It was about ten inches square, Exodus 28:13-31; and consisted of a folded piece of the same rich embroidered stuff of which the ephod was made. It was worn on the breast of the high priest, and was set with twelve precious stones, on each of which was engraven the name of one of the tribes. They were set in four rows, three in each row, and were divided from each other by the little golden squares or partitions in which they were set. The names of these stones, and that of the tribe engraven on them, as also their disposition on the breastplate, are usually given as follows; but what stones really answer to the Hebrew name, is for the most part very uncertain:—
Sardine, Topaz, Carbuncle, REUBEN. SIMEON. LEVI. Emerald, Sapphire, Diamond, JUDAH. DAN. NAPHTALI. Ligure, Agate, Amethyst, GAD. ASHER. ISSACHAR. Beryl, Onyx, Jasper, ZEBULUN. JOSEPH. BENJAMIN.
This breastplate was fastened at the four corners, those on the top to each shoulder, by a golden hook or ring, at the end of a wreathen chain; and those below to the girdle of the ephod, by two strings or ribbons, which had likewise two rings or hooks. This ornament was never to be separated from the priestly garment; and it was called the memorial, because it was a sign whereby the children of Israel might know that they were presented to God, and that they were had in remembrance by him. It was also called the breastplate of judgment, because it had the divine oracle of URIM and THUMMIM annexed to it. These words signify lights and perfections, and are mentioned as in the high priest's breastplate; but what they were, we cannot determine. Some think they were two precious stones added to the other twelve, by the extraordinary lustre of which, God marked his approbation of a design, and, by their becoming dim, his disallowance of it; others, that these two words were written on a precious stone, or plate of gold, fixed in the breastplate; others, that the letters of the names of the tribes, were the Urim and Thummim; and that the letters by standing out, or by an extraordinary illumination, marked such words as contained the answer of God to him who consulted this oracle.
Le Clerc will have them to be the names of two precious stones, set in a golden collar of the high priest, and coming down to his breast, as the magistrates of Egypt wore a golden chain, at the end of which hung the figure of truth, engraven on a precious stone. Prideaux thinks the words chiefly denote the clearness of the oracles dictated to the high priest, though perhaps the lustre of the stones in his breastplate might represent this clearness. Jahn says the most probable opinion is, that URIM and THUMMIM (אורים , ותמים light and justice, Septuagint, δηλωσις και αληθεια ) [manifestation and truth] was a sacred lot, 1 Samuel 14:41-42 . There were employed, perhaps, in determining this lot, three precious stones, on one of which was engraven כם , yes; on the other, לא , no; the third being destitute of any inscription. The question proposed, therefore, was always to be put in such a way, that the answer might be direct, either yes or no, provided any answer was given at all. These stones were carried in the purse or bag, formed by the lining or interior of the pectoral; and when the question was proposed, if the high priest drew out the stone which exhibited yes, the answer was affirmative; if the one on which no was written, the answer was negative; if the third, no answer was to be given, Joshua 7:13-21; 1 Samuel 14:40-43; 1 Samuel 28:6 . In the midst of all this conjecture, only two things are certain;
1. That one of the appointed methods of consulting God, on extraordinary emergencies, was by URIM and THUMMIM:
2. That the oracles of God rejected all equivocal and enigmatical replies, which was the character of the Heathen pretended oracles. "The words of the Lord are pure words." His own oracle bears, therefore, an inscription which signifies lights and perfections, or the shining and the perfect; or, according to the LXX, manifestation and truth. In this respect it might be a type of the Christian revelation made to the true Israel, the Christian church, by the Gospel. St. Paul seems especially to allude to this translation of Urim and Thummim by the Septuagint, when he speaks of himself and his fellow labourers, "commending themselves to every man's conscience by manifestation of the truth;" in opposition to those who by their errors and compliances with the Jewish prejudices, or with the philosophical taste of the Greeks, obscured the truth, and rendered ambiguous the guidance of Christian doctrine. His preaching is thus tacitly compared to the oracles of God; theirs, to the misleading and perplexed oracles of the Heathen.
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Watson, Richard. Entry for 'Breastplate'. Richard Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/wtd/b/breastplate.html. 1831-2.
