ur ('ur, "flame"; Codex Vaticanus Sthur; Codex Sinaiticus Ora): Father of Eliphal, one of David's "mighty men," in 1 Ch 11:35; in the parallel 2 Sam 23:34 called "Ahasbai."
kal'-dez ('ur kasdim; he chora (ton) Chaldaion): For more than 2,000 years efforts have been made to identify the site of this city. The writers of the Septuagint, either being unfamiliar with the site, or not considering it a city, wrote chora, "land," instead of Ur. Eupolemus, who lived about 150 BC, spoke of it as being a city of Babylonia called Camarina, which he said was called by some Ouria. Stephen (Acts 7:2,4) regarded the place as being in Mesopotamia. The Talmud, however, as well as some later Arabic writers, regarded Erech (the Septuagint Orek) as the city. The cuneiform writing of this city, Urnki, would seem to support this view, but Erech is mentioned in Genesis. Ammianus Marcellinus identified the city with the castle of Ur in the desert between Hatra and Nisibis, but this was only founded in the time of the Persians. Owing to its nearness to Haran, and because Stephen placed it in Mesopotamia, Urfa or Oorfa, named Edessa by the Greeks, has also in modern times been identified as the city. But Seleucus is credited with having built this city.
The most generally-accepted theory at the present time is that Ur is to be identified with the modern Mugheir (or Mughayyar, "the pitchy") in Southern Babylonia, called Urumma, or Urima, and later Uru in the inscriptions. This borders on the district which in the 1st millennium BC was called Chaldea (Kaldu).
This, some hold, accords with the view of Eupolemus, because Camarina may be from the Arabic name of the moon qamar, which refers perhaps to the fact that the ancient city was dedicated to the worship of the moon-god. Another argument which has been advanced for this identification is that Haran, the city to which Terah migrated, was also a center of moon-god worship. This, however, is precarious, because Urumma or Urima in Abraham's day was a Sumerian center, and the seat of Nannar-worship, whereas Haran was Semitic, and was dedicated to Sin. Although these two deities in later centuries were identified with each other, still the argument seems to have little weight, as other deities were also prominently worshipped in those cities, particularly Haran, which fact reminds us also that the Talmud says Terah worshipped no less than 12 deities.
It should be stated that there are scholars who hold, with the Septuagint, that Ur means, not a city, but perhaps a land in which the patriarch pastured his flocks, as for instance, the land of Uri or Ura (Akkad). The designation "of the Chaldeans" was in this case intended to distinguish it from the land where they were not found.
Still another identification is the town Uru (Mar-tu) near Sippar, a place of prominence in the time of Abraham, but which was lost sight of in subsequent periods (compare Amurru, 167). This fact would account for the failure to identify the place in the late pre-Christian centuries, when Urima or Uru still flourished. Western Semites--for the name Abram is not Babylonian--lived in this city in large numbers in the age when the patriarch lived. The Babylonian contract literature from this, as well as other sites, is full of names from the western Semitic lands, Aram and Amurru. This fact makes it reasonable that the site should be found in Babylonia; but, as stated, although the arguments are by no means weighty, more scholars at the present favor Mugheir than any other site.
A. T. Clay
ur'-ban, -ban'.
See URBANUS .
ur-ba'-nus (Ourbanos; the King James Version Urbane): A common slave name. Gifford says that it is found "as here, in juxtaposition with Ampliatus, in a list of imperial freedmen, on an inscription, 115 AD." He was a member of the Christian community at Rome to whom Paul sent greetings. Paul calls him "our fellow-worker in Christ" (Rom 16:9). "The `our' (as opposed to `my,' Rom 16:3) seems to suggest that all Christian workers had a common helper in Urbanus" (Denney).
u'-ri, oo'-ri (uri (uwri in 1 Ki 4:19), "fiery," unless the word be contracted for 'uriyah, "Uriah"):
(1) Son of Hur, and father of Bezalel (Ex 31:2; 35:30; 38:22; 1 Ch 2:20; 2 Ch 1:5).
(2) Father of Geber, one of Solomon's 12 provision officers (1 Ki 4:19; the Septuagint's Codex Vaticanus and Codex Alexandrinus, Adai).
(3) A porter who had married a foreign wife (Ezr 10:24; the Septuagint's Odouth; Codex Alexandrinus Odoue; Lucian Ourias).
u-ri'-a, u-ri'-ja ('uriyah, in Jer 26:20 'uriyahu, "flame of Yahweh" or "my light is Yahweh"; the Septuagint and the New Testament Our(e)ias, with variants; the King James Version has Urijah in 2 Ki 16:10-16; Neh 3:4,21; 8:4; Jer 26:20):
(1) A Hittite, who had settled in Jerusalem at the time of David and who had entered David's service. He had become a worshipper of Yahweh (judging from the usual interpretations of his name) and had married a Hebrew wife, BATH-SHEBA (which see). David's sin with this woman occurred while Uriah was engaged in warfare, and David had him recalled to Jerusalem in order to hide what had transpired. Uriah, however, felt himself bound by the consecration of a soldier (compare 1 Sam 21:5; Dt 23:10 f) and refused to do violence to his religion, so that David's ruse was in vain. (The point is missed here by speaking of Uriah's "chivalrous determination," as in HDB, IV, 837.) David, in desperation, wrote Joab instructions that were virtually a command to have Uriah murdered, and these instructions were duly carried out (2 Sam 11:2-27). The inclusion of Uriah's name in the list of the "mighty men" in 2 Sam 23:39 parallel Ch 11:41 is proof of his reputation as a soldier, and the name is found also in 2 Sam 12:9,10,15; 1 Ki 15:5; Mt 1:6. On the occurrence in Matthew see especially Heffern,JBL ,XXXI , 69 ff (1912).
(2) A priest under Ahaz, who carried into effect the latter's commands to introduce an Assyrian altar into the Temple and to use it for the sacrifices (2 Ki 16:10-16; see ALTAR ). The same Uriah appears in Isa 8:2 as one of the two "faithful witnesses" taken by Isaiah in the matter of Maher-shalal-hash-baz. This description has seemed to many to conflict with Uriah's compliancy in obeying Ahaz, but it must be remembered that (a) "faithful witness" means simply "one whom the people will believe," and (b) the articles in the sanctuary were not held as immutably sacred in the time of Ahaz as they were in later days. The omission of Uriah's name from the list in 1 Ch 6:10-14 is probably without significance, as Chronicles records only nine names from Solomon to the exile, showing that there must be many omissions. The corresponding list in Josephus, Ant, X, viii, 6, contains 18 names, including Uriah's.
(3) A son of Shemaiah, of Kiriath-jearim, and a contemporary of Jeremiah. He was a prophet, and his prophecy agreed with Jeremiah's in regards. Jehoiakim, roused to anger, arrested him, even at the trouble of a pursuit into Egypt, put him to death and desecrated his body (Jer 20 through 23). The story is told partly in order to show the greatness of Jeremiah's dangers, partly to bear record of the goodness of AHIKAM (which see), Jeremiah's protector.
(4) A priest, the father of MEREMOTH (which see) (Ezr 8:33; Neh 3:4,21; 1 Esdras 8:62 ("Urias," the King James Version "Iri")).
(5) One of those on Ezra's right hand reading of the Law (Neh 8:4; 1 Esdras 9:43 ("Urias")). Quite possibly identical with (4) above.
Burton Scott Easton
u-ri'-as (Oureias; Codex Vaticanus (b) Ouria; Codex Alexandrinus Ouri; the King James Version Iri):
(1) The father of Marmoth (1 Esdras 8:62) = "Uriah" of Ezr 8:33, and perhaps identical with (2).
(2) Codex Vaticanus (b) and Codex Alexandrinus, Oureias, Ourias = one of those who stood on Ezra's right hand as he read the Law (1 Esdras 9:43) = "Uriah" of Neh 8:4.
(Ourias): the King James Version; Greek form of "Uriah" (thus the Revised Version (British and American)). The husband of Bath-sheba (Mt 1:6).
u'-ri-el ('uri'-el, "flame of El (God)," or "El is my light"):
(1) A Kohathite, said in 1 Ch 15:5 to be the chief of the sons of Kohath (1 Ch 6:24 (Hebrew verse 9); 15:5,11). He corresponds to Zephaniah in the pedigree of Heman in 1 Ch 6:33-38 (Hebrew 18-23). See Curtis, Chronicles, 130 f.
(2) A man of Gibeah, and father of Micaiah the mother of King Abijah of Judah (2 Ch 13:2).
(3) The archangel (En 20:2, etc.). See next article.
(Ouriel, "fire or flame of God"' or "my light is God"): Called only in 2 Esdras an "angel," except 2 Esdras 4:36 where the Revised Version (British and American) and the King James Version rightly give "Jeremiel the archangel" for the King James Version "Uriel the archangel," but elsewhere known as one of the four chief archangels. He was the angel who instructed Ezra (2 Esdras 4:1; 5:20; 10:28). In Enoch 20:2 Uriel is the angel who is "over the world and Tartarus" (ho epi tou kosmou kai tou tartarou), and as such is the conductor to Enoch in the world below, the secrets of which he explains. Compare also (Greek) 19:1; 21:5. In the (Latin) "Life of Adam and Eve," 48 (ed. W. Meyer in Abhand. d. Bayer. Akad. der Wiss., XIV, 1878, 250), Uriel (Oriel) accompanied Michael when at God's bidding he wrapped the bodies of Adam and Abel in three linen sheets and buried them in Paradise. In the lost "Prayer of Joseph" Uriel is the angel who wrestles and converses with Jacob and knows the secrets of heaven (as in Enoch those of Tartarus), but stands only 8th in rank, whereas in (Greek) Enoch 20:2 ff he is the 1st of the six (or seven) archangels. In Sib Or 2:229 he is entrusted with the judgment of the Titans. Compare Milton, Paradise Lost,III , 690, "regent of the sun, and held the sharpest sighted Spirit of all in heaven."
(2) "Urier" the King James Version = the Revised Version (British and American) and the King James Version margin "Jeremiel."
S. Angus
u'-rim and thum'-im (ha-'urim weha-tummim (article omitted in Ezr 2:63; Neh 7:65); perhaps "light and perfection," as intensive plurals):
Articles not specifically described, placed in (next to, or on (Hebrew 'el; Septuagint epi; Samaritan-Hebrew `al)) the high priest's breastplate, called the "breast-plate of decision" (English Versions of the Bible, "judgment"). (Ex 28:30; Lev 8:8). Their possession was one of the greatest distinctions conferred upon the priestly family (Dt 33:8; Ecclesiasticus 45:10), and seems to have been connected with the function of the priests as the mouthpiece of Yahweh, as well as with the ceremonial side of the service (Ex 28:30; compare Arabic kahin, "soothsayer").
Through their use, the nature of which is a matter of conjecture, the divine will was sought in national crises, and apparently the future foretold, guilt or innocence established, and, according to one theory, land divided (Babha' Bathra' 122a; Sanhedrin 16a). Thus, Joshua was to stand before Eleazar who was to inquire for him after the judgment (decision) of the Urim (Nu 27:21). It seems that this means was employed by Joshua in the matter of Achan (Josh 7:14,18) and overlooked in the matter of the Gibeonites (9:14). Though not specifically mentioned, the same means is in all probability referred to in the accounts of the Israelites consulting Yahweh after the death of Joshua in their warfare (Jdg 1:1,2; 20:18,26-28). The Danites in their migration ask counsel of a priest, perhaps in a similar manner (Jdg 18:5,7). It is not impossible that even the prophet Samuel was assisted by the Urim in the selection of a king (1 Sam 10:20-22). During Saul's war with the Philistines, he made inquiry of God with the aid of the priest (1 Sam 14:36,37), Ahijah, the son of Ahitub, who at that time wore the ephod (1 Sam 14:3). Although on two important occasions Yahweh refused to answer Saul through the Urim (1 Sam 14:37; 28:6), it appears (from the Septuagint version of 1 Sam 14:41; see below) that he Used the Urim and Thummim successfully in ascertaining the cause of the divine displeasure. The accusation of Doeg and the answer of the high priest (1 Sam 22:10,13,15) suggest that David began to inquire of Yahweh through the priesthood, even while he was an officer of Saul. After the massacre of the priests in Nob, Abiathar fled to the camp of David (1 Sam 22:20), taking with him the ephod (including apparently the Urim and Thummim, 1 Sam 23:6) which David used frequently during his wanderings (1 Sam 23:2-4,9-12; 30:7,8), and also after the death of Saul (2 Sam 2:1; 5:19,23; 21:1). After the days of David, prophecy was in the ascendancy, and, accordingly, we find no clear record of the use of the Urim and Thummim in the days of the later kings (compare, however, Hos 3:4; Ecclesiasticus 33:3). Still, in post-exilic times we find the difficult question of the ancestral right of certain priests to eat of the most holy things reserved till there would stand up a priest with Urim and with Thummim (Ezr 2:63; Neh 7:65; 1 Esdras 5:40; Sotah 48b).
Though Josephus sets the date for the obsolescence of the Urim and Thummim at 200 years before his time, in the days of John Hyrcanus (Ant., III, viii, 9), the Talmud reckons the Urim and Thummim among the things lacking in the second Temple (Sotah 9 10; Yoma' 21b; Yeru Qid. 65b). Both Josephus and the Talmud identify the Urim and Thummim with the stones of the breastplate. The former simply states that the stones shone whenever the shekhinah was present at a sacrifice or when the army proceeded to battle.
"God declared beforehand by those twelve stones which the high priest bare on his breast, and which were inserted into his breastplate, when they should be victorious in battle; for so great a splendor shone forth from them before the army began to march, that all the people were sensible of God's being present for their assistance" (Ant., III, viii, 9).
The Talmudic explanation suggests that by the illumination of certain letters the divine will was revealed, and that in order to have a complete alphabet, in addition to the names of the tribes, the breastplate bore the names of the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. and the words shibhTe yeshurun. A later scholar even suggests that the letters moved from their places to form words (Yoma' 73a,b). Characteristically enough the Talmud prescribes rules and suggestions for the consultation of the non-existing Urim and Thummim: that the one asking must be a man of public importance, that the question must pertain to the public weal; that the priest must face the shekhinah (west); that one question be asked at a time, and so forth (same place).
It is difficult to tell just how much, if anything, of a lingering tradition is reflected in the view that the Urim and Thummim and stones of the breast-plate were identical. In the absence of other ancient clues, however, it is not safe to reject even the guesses of the Jews of the second temple in favor of our own. We do not even know the meaning of the word choshen, so confidently translated "pouch" or "receptacle" by opponents of the older view, without any basis whatever. On the other hand the theory of identification was widespread. Even Philo leans toward it in his De Monarchia, although in his Vita Mosis (iii) he seems to have in mind two small symbols representing Light and Truth embroidered on the cloth of the choshen or hung round the neck of the high priest, similar to the Egyptian symbol of justice. Another very old view is that the Urim and Thummim consisted of a writing containing the Ineffable Name (Pseudo-Jonathan on Ex 28:20; compare Rashi and Nachmanides at the place).
The view most generally held today is that the Urim and Thummim were two sacred lots, one indicating an affirmative or favorable answer, the other a negative or unfavorable answer (Michaelis, Ewald, Wellhausen, Robertson Smith, Driver, G. F. Moore, Kennedy, Muss-Arnolt). The chief support of this view is found, not in the Massoretic Text, but in the reconstruction by Wellhausen and Driver of 1 Sam 14:41 ff on the basis of the Septuagint: "If this fault be in me or in Jonathan, my son, give Urim (dos delous), and if it be in thy people Israel, give Thummim (dos hosioteta)." The following sentence clearly suggests the casting of lots, possibly lots on which the names of Saul and Jonathan were written, and "Jonathan" was taken. Efforts have been made to support the view that the Urim and Thummim themselves were sacred lots on the basis of analogous customs among other peoples (e.g. pre-Islamic Arabs (Moore in EB) andBabylonians (W. Muss-Arnolt in Jew Encyclopedia and AJSL, July, 1900)). It must be borne in mind, however, that whatever the lot-theory has to recommend it, it is inconsistent not only with the post-Biblical traditions, but also with the Biblical data. For those who are not inclined to give much weight to the passages connecting the Urim and Thummim with the high priest's apparel (Ex 28:30; Lev 8:8, both "P"), there is of course no difficulty in dissociating the two, in spite of the fact that for the use of this system of divination the one thing necessary in the historical passages on which they rely seems to be the ephod. Still, if we are to think of two lots, one called and possibly marked "Urim" and the other "Thummim," it is difficult to get any meaning from the statement (1 Sam 14:37; 28:6) that Yahweh did not answer Saul on certain occasions, unless indeed we surmise for the occasion the existence of a third nameless blank lot. A more serious difficulty arises from the fact that the answers ascribed to the Urim and Thummim are not always the equivalent of "yes" or "no" (compare Jdg 1:2; 20:18; 1 Sam 22:10; 2 Sam 5:23; 21:1), even if we omit from consideration the instances where an individual is apparently pointed out from all Israel (compare the instances of the detection of Achan and the selection of Saul with that of Jonathan, above).
If we turn to etymology for assistance, we are not only on uncertain ground, but when Babylonian and other foreign words are brought in to bolster up a theory abput anything so little understood as the Urim and Thummim, we are on dangerous ground. Thus, Muss-Arnolt is ready with Babylonian words (urtu, "command," and tamitu, "oracular decision"); others suggest tme, the Egyptian image of justice; still others connect Urim with 'arar, to curse," in order to make it an antonym of tummim, "faultlessness." It is generally admitted, however, that, as pointed in the Massoretic Text, the words mean "light" and "perfection," on the basis of which the Talmud (Yoma' 73b) as well as most of the Greek versions translated them (delosis kai aletheia; photismoi kai teleiotetes), although Symmachus in one place (Dt 33:8), who is followed by the Vulgate, connects Urim with the word Torah and understands it to mean "doctrine" (teleiotes kai didache). Though loth to add to the already overburdened list of conjectures about these words, it appears to the present writer that if Urim and Thummim are antonyms, and Urim means "light," it is by no means difficult to connect Thummim with darkness, inasmuch as there is a host of Hebrew stems based on the root -tm, all indicating concealing, closing up, and even darkness (compare ... (see Job 40:13), ... and even and cognate Arabic words in BDB). This explanation would make Urim and Thummim mean "illuminated" and "dark" (compare Caster in Hastings,ERE ,IV , 813), and, while fitting well with the ancient theories or traditions, would not be excluded by the recent theory of lots of opposite purport.
Nathan Isaacs