View source for Lot's wife

In the [[Bible]], '''Lot's wife''' is a figure first mentioned in {{Bibleverse||Genesis|19|HE}}. The [[Book of Genesis]] describes how she became a pillar of salt after she looked back at [[Sodom]] and [[Gomorrah]]. She is not named in the Bible but is called "Ado" or "Edith" in some [[List of names for the biblical nameless#Lot's wife|Jewish traditions]]. She is also referred to in the [[deuterocanonical books]] at the [[Book of Wisdom]] ({{Bibleref2|Wisdom|10:7|RSVCE}}) and the [[New Testament]] at [[Luke 17]]:32. [[Islamic]] accounts also talk about the wife of Prophet Lut (Lot) when mentioning 'People of Lut'.

== Genesis narrative ==

The story of [[Lot (biblical person)|Lot]]'s wife begins in Genesis 19 after two angels arrived in [[Sodom and Gomorrah|Sodom]] at eventide and were invited to spend the night at Lot's home. The men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and prompted Lot to offer up these men/angels; instead, Lot offered up his two daughters but they were refused. As dawn was breaking, Lot's visiting angels urged him to get his family and flee, so as to avoid being caught in the impending disaster for the iniquity of the city. The command was given, "Flee for your life! [[Taboo#In_religion_and_mythology|Do not look behind you]], nor stop anywhere in the Plain; flee to the hills, lest you be swept away."<ref name=Schwartz>{{cite book|last=Schwartz|first=Howard|title=Tree of Souls: The Mythology of Judaism|year=2004|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=60iVk1p8Y9IC&q=Lot%27s+wife&pg=PA466 |isbn=9780195358704}}</ref>{{rp|465}} While fleeing, Lot's wife turned to look back, and was turned into a pillar of salt.<ref name=Schwartz/>{{rp|466}}

==Composition==
The Hebrew verb used for Lot's wife "looking" back is {{Script/Hebrew|תבט}}, ''tāḇeṭ''. Her looking back at Sodom differs in word usage from Abraham "looking" {{Script/Hebrew|שקף}}, ''šāqap'' toward Sodom in (18:16).<ref name=Hamilton>{{cite book |last=Hamilton |first=Victor P. |chapter=looking (back) |title=The Book of Genesis: Chapters 18-50 (Google eBook) |year=1995 |publisher=[[Eerdmans]] |location=Grand Rapids Michigan |isbn=9780802823090 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zlQ4chBCC5oC&q=%22looking+%28back%29%22&pg=PA49 |page=49 |edition=2nd.}}</ref>{{rp|49}}

==Pillar of salt==
[[File:Nuremberg chronicles f 21r.png|right|thumb|Lots wife (center) turned into a pillar of salt during Sodom's destruction ([[Nuremberg Chronicle]], 1493).]]
The story appears to be based in part on a [[folk legend]] explaining a geographic feature.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Hirsch|first1=Emil G.|last2=Seligsohn|first2=M.|last3=Schechter|first3=Solomon|last4=Jacobs|first4=Joseph|title=Jewish Encyclopedia|date=1906|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/10122-lot|chapter=Lot}}</ref>

A pillar of salt named "Lot's wife" is located near the [[Dead Sea]] at [[Mount Sodom]] in [[Israel]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Lefond |first=Stanley J. |year=2012 |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Handbook_of_World_Salt_Resources/5KQACAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA337&printsec=frontcover |title=Handbook of World Salt Resources |publisher=Springer |page=337}}</ref> The [[Mishnah]] states that a blessing should be said at the place where the pillar of salt is.<ref name=Schwartz/>{{rp|467}}<ref>([[Talmud]] B. Ber. 54a)</ref> The term "Lot's wife" for such geographical features subsequently entered common parlance, as one of the outcrops comprising [[Long Ya Men]] was also nicknamed thus.<ref name=NLB>{{cite book|last=National Library Board|title=Wang Dayuan - Singapore History|year=2014|url=http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/history/events/61d49d33-d5cd-48fc-b91b-652ca64e87c4}}</ref>

The Jewish historian [[Josephus]] claimed to have seen the pillar of salt which was Lot's wife.<ref>[http://sacred-texts.com/jud/josephus/ant-1.htm Josephus. ''Antiquities of the Jews.'' Book I. Chapter 11. Verse 4.]</ref> Its existence is also attested to by the early church fathers [[Clement of Rome]] and [[Irenaeus]].<ref>[http://sacred-texts.com/jud/josephus/ant-1.htm#EndNote%20ANT%201.23b Josephus. ''Antiquities of the Jews.'' Book I. Endnote Number 23]</ref>

==Jewish commentaries==
In [[Judaism]], one common view of Lot's wife turning to salt was as punishment for disobeying the angels' warning. By looking back at the "evil cities," she betrayed her secret longing for that way of life. She was deemed unworthy to be saved and thus was turned to a pillar of salt.<ref>{{cite book|last=Scharfstein|first=Sol|title=Torah and commentary : the five books of Moses : translation, rabbinic and contemporary commentary|year=2008|publisher=KTAV Publishing|location=Jersey City, NJ|isbn=9781602800205|page=71, #26}}</ref>

Another view in the [[Jewish exegesis]] of Genesis 19:26, is that when Lot's wife looked back, she turned to a pillar of salt upon the "sight of God," who was descending down to rain destruction upon Sodom and Gomorrah.<ref name=Schwartz/>{{rp|467}}  One reason that is given in the tradition is that she turned back to look in order to see if her daughters, who were married to men of Sodom, were coming or not.<ref name=Schwartz/>{{rp|467}}

Another Jewish legend says that because Lot's wife sinned with salt, she was punished with salt. On the night the two angels visited Lot, he requested that his wife prepare a feast for them. Not having any salt, Lot's wife asked her neighbors for salt, which alerted them to the presence of their guests, resulting in the mob action that endangered Lot's family.<ref name=Schwartz/>{{rp|467}}

In the [[Midrash]], Lot's wife's name is given as Edith.<ref name=Schwartz/>{{rp|466}}

==Islamic view==

[[File:Lot BnF Persan 54 fol. 40.jpg|thumb|[[Lot in Islam|Lut]] fleeing the [[Sodom and Gomorrah#Islamic|city]] with his [[Lot's daughters|daughters]]; his wife is killed by a rock.]]
'''Lut''' ({{lang-ar|لوط}}) in the [[Quran]] is considered to be the same as '''Lot''' in the [[Hebrew Bible]]. He is considered to be a [[Messengers of Islam|messenger of God]] and a [[Prophets of Islam|prophet of God]].<ref>{{cite quran|26|161|s=ns}}</ref>

In the [[Quran|Quranic]] telling, Lut warned his people of their imminent destruction lest they change their wicked ways, but they refused to listen to him. Lut was ordered by [[Allah]] to leave the city with his followers at night, but to leave his wife. As soon as he left, Allah brought down upon them a shower of stones of clay.<ref>{{cite quran|51|33|34|s=ns}}</ref>

The difference between this telling and the [[Judeo-Christian]] telling from the Book of Genesis is that Lut's wife was destroyed alongside the wicked; in other words, she did not flee with Lut. This is because Lut's wife was as guilty as those who were punished. So much so, that she is mentioned in the Quran alongside [[Noah in Islam|Nuh]]'s wife as two impious and disbelieving women who were punished for their wickedness, irrespective of their being related to prophets.<ref>{{cite quran|66|10|s=ns}}</ref>

In the Quran, surah (chapter) 26 [[Ash-Shu'ara]] (The Poets)&nbsp;–

{{quote|So, We saved him and his family, all. Except an old woman among those who remained behind.|{{cite quran|26|170|e=171|s=ns}}}}

{{quote|Commentary: This was his wife, who was a bad old woman. She stayed behind and was destroyed with whoever else was left. This is similar to what Allah says about them in Surat Al-A`raf and Surat Hud, and in Surat Al-Hijr, where Allah commanded him to take his family at night, except for his wife, and not to turn around when they heard the Sayhah as it came upon his people. So they patiently obeyed the command of Allah and persevered, and Allah sent upon the people a punishment which struck them all, and rained upon them stones of baked clay, piled up.|[[Tafsir ibn Kathir]] (Commentary by [[Ibn Kathir]])<ref>{{cite web |title=Tafsir Ibn Kathir |work=Quran 26:170–171 |url=http://www.qtafsir.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2260&Itemid=82 |publisher=qtafsir.com}}</ref>}}

==Other biblical references==
Lot's wife is mentioned by Jesus at {{Bibleref2|Luke|17:32}}<ref>{{cite book|title=Catholic Encyclopedia|url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09366a.htm|chapter=Lot}}</ref> in the context of warning his disciples about difficult times in the future when the [[Son of Man]] would return; he told them to remember Lot's wife as a warning to not waver at that time.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Carroll|first1=John T.|title=Luke a commentary|date=2012|publisher=Westminster John Knox Press|location=Louisville, Kentucky|isbn=9781611642025|page=351|edition=1st|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yZF1BwAAQBAJ&pg=PA351}}</ref> Lot's wife is also referred to in the apocrypha in {{Bibleref2|Wisdom|10:7|RSVCE}}.

==Popular culture==
Lot's wife is the subject of the poem "Lot's Wife" by [[Anna Akhmatova]], which offers a more sympathetic view of Lot's wife's choice to look back. [[Scott Cairns]]' poem "The Turning of Lot's Wife" also reimagines the story from a feminist perspective. Lot's wife is mentioned in the opening chapter of ''[[Slaughter House Five]]'' by [[Kurt Vonnegut]]. Vonnegut also offers a sympathetic view and compares her looking back at Sodom to his recalling the [[fire bombing of Dresden]].<ref>Slaughter House 5</ref> [[Monash University]]'s student newspaper, published by the Monash Student Association since 1964, is entitled ''Lot's Wife''. The reasoning given for this by the newspaper's editors (who changed its name from ''Chaos'') was that while a "university newspaper is one of the pillars of campus society" ideally a paper adds "a distinctive savor to an ever changing menu of intellectual aliment".<ref>'Union - hub of student life' Melbourne ''Age'' 30 May 1968 p. 13</ref> She is also mentioned during the off Broadway musical ''[[Hedwig and the Angry Inch (musical)|Hedwig and the Angry Inch]]'' in the lyrics of the song "Wicked Little Town". Lot’s wife is paralleled in [[Shirley Jackson]]’s short story “Pillar of Salt”, in which a woman visiting New York with her husband becomes obsessed with the crumbling of the city.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:SaltPillarDeadSea.jpg|A rock formation near the [[Sanctuary of Agios Lot]] venerated as Lot's wife as a pillar of salt
File:MountSodom061607.jpg|"Lot's Wife" pillar of salt, [[Mount Sodom]], Israel.
File:'Lot's Wife' sea-stack, Marsden Bay - geograph.org.uk - 1637633.jpg|The 'Lot's wife' [[stack (geology)|sea-stack]], [[Marsden, Tyne and Wear|Marsden Bay]], [[South Shields]], [[North East England]], [[United Kingdom]] located on the [[North Sea]] coast
Image:Baltimore Beacon 2008-07-01 10-25.jpg|The conspicuous conical white painted [[beacon]] at [[Baltimore, County Cork|Baltimore, Ireland]] is locally nicknamed ''The Pillar of Salt'' or ''Lot's wife''
File:Soufuiwa_07.jpg|[[Lot's Wife (crag)|Lot's Wife]] is a [[volcano|volcanic]], [[deserted island]] at the southernmost tip of the [[Izu Islands|Izu archipelago]], [[Japan]]. 
</gallery>

== See also ==
* [[Baucis and Philemon]]
* [[List of names for the biblical nameless#Lot.27s wife|List of names for the biblical nameless]]
* [[Lot's Wife (crag)]]
* [[Orpheus]]
* [[Vayeira]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}