[awr-uh-kuh
l, or-] 
| 1. | (esp. in ancient Greece) an utterance, often ambiguous or obscure, given by a priest or priestess at a shrine as the response of a god to an inquiry. |
| 2. | the agency or medium giving such responses. |
| 3. | a shrine or place at which such responses were given: the oracle of Apollo at Delphi. |
| 4. | a person who delivers authoritative, wise, or highly regarded and influential pronouncements. |
| 5. | a divine communication or revelation. |
| 6. | any person or thing serving as an agency of divine communication. |
| 7. | any utterance made or received as authoritative, extremely wise, or infallible. |
| 8. | oracles, the Scriptures. |
| 9. | the holy of holies of the Temple built by Solomon in Jerusalem. I Kings 6:16, 19–23. |
| or·a·cle (ôr'ə-kəl, ŏr'-) n.
[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin ōrāculum, from ōrāre, to speak.] |
Oracle
Oracle Corporation
Oracle
In the Old Testament used in every case, except 2 Sam. 16:23, to denote the most holy place in the temple (1 Kings 6:5, 19-23; 8:6). In 2 Sam. 16:23 it means the Word of God. A man inquired "at the oracle of God" by means of the Urim and Thummim in the breastplate on the high priest's ephod. In the New Testament it is used only in the plural, and always denotes the Word of God (Rom. 3:2; Heb. 5:12, etc.). The Scriptures are called "living oracles" (comp. Heb. 4:12) because of their quickening power (Acts 7:38).