What "casting lots" means in the Hebrew Bible, five key passages, how it differs from fortune telling, and how to ask a traditional book of lots a question as the year turns.
To cast lots is to let a drawn or thrown marker decide between options. The Hebrew word is goral, and already in the Bible it can also mean a person's fate or portion. This page covers the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) and the Jewish tradition that grew from it.
And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats: one lot for the LORD, and the other lot for Azazel. (Leviticus 16:8)
The Mishnah describes how this was done in the Temple: the high priest shook a box and drew out two tablets, one inscribed "for the Name" (that is, for the LORD) and the other "for Azazel" (Mishnah Yoma 4:1).
Notwithstanding the land shall be divided by lot; according to the names of the tribes of their fathers they shall inherit. (Numbers 26:55)
Later, "Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh before the LORD" and divided the land among the tribes (Joshua 18:10). Here the lot is a fair way to decide who receives what.
And they said every one to his fellow: ‘Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us.’ So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah. (Jonah 1:7)
Before Haman "they cast pur, that is, the lot" to choose a day (Esther 3:7), and the festival takes its name from it: "Wherefore they called these days Purim, after the name of pur" (Esther 9:26).
The lot is cast into the lap; But the whole disposing thereof is of the LORD. (Proverbs 16:33)
This verse is the key to the biblical view: the outcome of the lot is not treated as blind chance.
The Torah forbids divination outright: "There shall not be found among you ... one that useth divination, a soothsayer, or an enchanter, or a sorcerer" (Deuteronomy 18:10). The biblical lot mostly serves a different purpose, deciding or dividing fairly. Centuries later, Jewish communities also knew folk "books of lots", where a chosen number leads to a short written answer. Whether consulting such books is appropriate is debated in Jewish tradition, and many treat it with real caution. A survey of the views is available in Hebrew: Is it permitted to ask a goral?
That is why this site presents the books as cultural texts for reflection and entertainment, never as a way to know the future.
Asking about the coming year is a custom in many cultures. In the Jewish calendar there is more than one "new year": the Mishnah lists four (Rosh Hashanah 1:1), and the main one, Rosh Hashanah, falls in autumn. On that day, the Mishnah says, all people pass before their Creator in judgment (Rosh Hashanah 1:2), so the Jewish new year is about prayer, repentance and resolutions rather than prediction.
January 1 is not a Jewish holiday, but the end of the calendar year is still a natural moment to stop and ask where you are heading. A question like "What should I pay attention to this year?" gives you more to think about than asking for a date or a number.
Sod HaGoralot is the web version of a 2013 app of the same name.
For entertainment only. The answers are traditional texts presented as cultural material. They are not predictions, not advice and not a substitute for professional guidance of any kind. Do not make decisions based on the lot.
Ask your question: the first one is freeCasting lots means letting a drawn or thrown marker decide between options. In the Hebrew Bible it is used for the Yom Kippur goats, for dividing the land among the tribes, by Jonah's shipmates, and in the Purim story.
The Bible rarely describes the method. For Yom Kippur the Mishnah says the high priest drew two tablets from a box, one inscribed for the LORD and one for Azazel (Mishnah Yoma 4:1).
Not in the Hebrew Bible. The Torah forbids divination (Deuteronomy 18:10), while the biblical lot is mostly a fair way to decide or divide. Later folk books of lots are a debated custom; this site presents them for reflection and entertainment only.
You can ask one of four traditional Jewish books of lots a question and read a short answer. It is not a yes-or-no generator and it does not predict the future.
Your first question on each device is free. Further questions are a small one-time payment each, with no subscription. The price is shown before you pay.