lots

The casting of lots---to choose individuals for tasks, to determine guilt, to divide property--- is referred to in numerous places in Jewish literature. In the Bible, before the Israelites entered Canaan, they cast lots to divide the land among the tribes (though the midrashic literature maintains that the results were divinely ordained and the lots merely meant to give them visible form). Another early example of the casting of lots was to determine who was responsible for the defeat of the Israelites at Ai during the conquest of Canaan. The guilty party turned out to be Akhan, who had secretly partaken of the spoils even though commanded not to (Josh. 7:18-26). Another classic example is the case of Jonah, where a lot was cast to determine who was responsible for the terrible storm that took hold of his ship at sea. It fell on Jonah (Jon. 1:7)

As can be seen in the talmudic literature, lots were used in Second Temple times to determine which of the priests present were to carry out the required tasks in the Temple. The Talmud also notes than when a man's land was to be divided among his sons after his death, lots were cast to determine which son would receive which portion (BB 106b). According to Josephus, lots were cast at Masada to determine which of the last ten defenders would slay the other nine before committing suicide. Yigael Yadin's discovery there during archeological digs of a number of ostraca with a single name inscribed on each led him to believe that these were the lots cast on that fateful day.

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