Lost Tribes. See Captivity ; Israel.
Lot (properly P^iS or P"lh, goral', KXrjpoc, literally a pebble, used ancientlj' for balloting; other terms occa- sionally thus rendered are 53n or ?3Il, che'bel, a po?-- Hon, Dent, xxxii, 9; 1 Chron. xvi, 18; Psa. cv, 11, re- ferring to an inheritance ; and \ayx(tt'(^j to obtain by lot, Luke i, 9; John xix, 24), strictly a small stone, as used in casting lots (Lev. xvi, 8 ; Numb, xxxiii, 54 ; Josh, xix, 1 •, Ezek. xxiv, 6 ; Jonah i, 7), hence also a method used to determine chances or preferences, or to decide a debate. The decision by lot was often resort- ed to among the Hebrews, but always with the strictest reference to the interposition of (iod. As to the pre- cise manner of casting lots, we have no certain informa- tion ; probably several modes were practiced. In Prov. xvi, 33 we read that " the lot," i. e. pebble, " is cast into the lap," properly into the bosom of an urn or vase. It does not appear that the lap or bosom of a garment worn by a person was ever used to receive lots.
The use of lots among the ancients was very general (see Dale, Orac. etJin. c. 14 ; Potter, Greek Antiq. i, 730 ; Adams, Rom. Ant. i, 540 sq. ; Smith, Did. of Class. Ant. 6. V. Sors) and highly esteemed (Xenoph. Cyrop. i, 6, 40), as is natural in simple stages of society (Tacit. Germ. 10),
" recommending itself as a sort of appeal to the Almighty- secure from all infiucnce of passion or bias, and a sort of divination employed even by the gods themselves (Homer, Iliad, xxii, 209 ; Cicero, De Div. i, 34 ; ii, 41). The w-ord sors is thus used for an oracular response (Cic- ero, De Divina, ii, 50). So there was a mode of divina- tion among heathens by means of arrows, two inscribed and one without mark, l3tXofiavTiia (Hos. iv, 12 ; Ezek. xxi, 21; Mauritius, De Sortitione, c. 14, § 4; see also Esth. iii, 7 ; ix, 24-32 ; Mishna, Taaniih, ii, 10). See DiviNATiox. Among heathen instances the following additional may be cited : 1. Choice of a champion, or of priority in combat (//.iii, 316; vii, 171 ; Ilerod. iii, 108) ; 2. Decision of fate in battle (//. xx, 209) ; 3. Appoint- mentof magistrates, jurymen, or other functionaries (Ar- istot. To/, iv, 16; SchoLOw y1 m/o;;/;. Plut. 277; Herod, vi, 109 ; Xenoph. Q/ro/). iv, 5, 55 ; Demosth. c. A ristog. i, 778, 1 ; comp. Smith, Diet, of Class. Antiq. s. v. Dicas- tes) ; 4. Priests (iEsch. in Tim. p. 188, Bekk.) ; 5. A Ger- man practice of deciding by marks on twigs, mentioned by Tacitus {Germ. 10) ; 0. Division of conquered or col- onized land (Thucydidcs, iii, 50 ; Plutarch, Pericles, 84 ; Bockh, Public Ecun. of Ath. ii, 170)" (Smith).
The Israelites sometimes had recourse to lots as a method of ascertaining the divine W'ill (Prov. xvi, 33), and generally in cases of doubt regarding serious enter- prises (Esth. iii, 7 ; compare Rosenmiiller, Morgenl. iii, 301), especially the following: (o.) In matters of par- tition or distribution, e. g. the location of the several tribes in Palestine (Numb, xxvi, 55 sq. ; xxxiii, 54 ; xxxiv, 13 ; xxxvi, 2 ; Josh, xiv, 2 ; xviii, 6 sq. •, xix, 5), the assignment of the Levitical cities (Josh, xxi, 4 sq.), and, after the return from the exile, the settlement in the homesteads at the capital (Neh. xi, 1 ; compare 1 Mace, iii, 36). Prisoners of w-ar were also disposed of by lot (.Joel iii, 3 ; Nah. iii, 10 ; Obad. 11 ; compare Matt, xxvii, 35 ; John xix, 24 ; compare Xenoph. Cyrop. iv, 5, 55). (b.) In criminal investigations where doubt exist- ed as to the real culprit (Josh, vii, 14; 1 Sam. xlv, 42). A notion prevailed among the Jews that this detection was performed by observing the shining of the stones in the high-priest's breastiJate (Mauritius, c. 21, § 4). The instance of the mariners casting lots to ascertain by the surrendering of what offender the sea could be appeased (Jonah i, 7), is analogous; but it is not clear, from Prov. xviii, 18, that lots were resorted to for the determination of civil disputes, (e.) In the election to an important office or undertaking for which several persons apjieared to have claims (1 Sam. x, 19; Acts i, 26; comp. Herod, iii, 128 ; Justin, xiii, 4 ; Cicero, Verr. ii, 2, 51 ; Aristot, Po- lit. iv, 16), as well as in the assignment of official duties among associates having a common right (Neh. x, 34), as of the priestly offices in the Temple service among the sixteen of the family of Eleazar and the eight of that of Ithamar (1 Chron. xxiv, 3, 5, 19 ; Luke i, 9), also of the Levites for similar purposes (1 Chron. xxiii, 28; xxiv, 20-31 ; xxv, 8 ; xxvi, 13 ; Mishna, Tamid, i, 2 ; iii, 1 ; V, 2 ; Jama, ii, 2, 3, 4 ; Shabb. xxiii, 2 ; Lightfoot, IIoi; Hebr. in Luke i, 8, 9, vol. ii, p. 489). (rf.) In military enterprises (Judg. xx, 10 ; compare Yal. Max. i, 5, 3).