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plural only
divination, or the seeking of guidance, by chance selection of a passage in the Bible or another text regarded as authoritative. quotations examples
Book oracles, called sortes (from the Latin sors = lot, indicating that one would obtain the answers by casting lots), allowed for consultation on the spot; the oracle could even come to the petitioner!
2014, AnneMarie Luijendijk, “Introduction”, in Forbidden Oracles? The Gospel of the Lots of Mary (Studien und Texte zu Antike und Christentum / Studies and Texts in Antiquity and Christianity; 89), Tübingen, Germany: Mohr Siebek, page 3