Lot
Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament [1]
LOT. —The suddenness of the Divine Parousia and the unpreparedness and want of expectation on the part of the world, find illustration from ‘the days of Lot’ ( Luke 17:28), when the people of Sodom continued their social and commercial activity until ‘the day that Lot went out’ ( Luke 17:29).
Lot’s Wife —to whom in Jewish tradition the name ערית Edith is given—is recorded in Genesis 19 to have been turned into a pillar of salt as a result of her looking back upon Sodom while escaping to the mountain. Her fate, as one failing to escape imminent and foretold destruction, is referred to in Luke 17:32, though without specific mention of the form in which destruction overtook her.
Our Lord’s word ‘Remember’ neither confirms nor rejects the tradition. It is with the spiritual fact and its lesson, not with the memorial, that He is concerned. The folly of unreadiness, of the longing for things left behind, of the desire to retain a transient little in the face of impending judgment and at the cost of a greater and eternal loss, is the lesson He would teach in connexion with His Parousia, from the remembrance of Lot’s wife.
Literature.—Hasting's Dictionary of the Bible, Smith’s DB [Note: Dictionary of the Bible.] , Encyc. Bibl. , Kitto’s Encyc., Jewish Encyc. s.v. ; G. A. Smith, HGHL [Note: GHL Historical Geog. of Holy Land.] p. 505; Josephus Ant. i. xi. 4; Jon. Edwards, Works [ed. 1840], ii. 64; Comm., esp. Driver on Genesis ; and the following expository sermons, J. A. Alexander, Gospel of Jesus Christ , 38; H. E. Manning, Teaching of Christ , 38; F. Temple, Rugby Sermons , ii. 312; S. Cox, Expositions , iv. 280; B. Herford, Courage and Cheer , 79; G. Matheson, Representative Men of the Bible , ii. 22; A. Whyte, Bible Characters , i. 129.
J. T. L. Maggs.
Fausset's Bible Dictionary [2]
Early used to decide an issue; so in choosing each of the two goats on the day of atonement (two inscribed tablets of boxwood were the lots used according to Joma 3:9 (?)), Leviticus 16:8, and in assigning the inheritances in Canaan ( Numbers 26:55; Numbers 34:13), in selecting men for an expedition ( Judges 1:1; Judges 20:10), in electing a king ( 1 Samuel 10:20), in detecting the guilty ( 1 Samuel 14:41-42), in selecting an apostle ( Acts 1:26), as formerly priests' offices among the 16 of Eleazar's family and the eight of Ithamar ( 1 Chronicles 24:3; 1 Chronicles 24:5; 1 Chronicles 24:19; Luke 1:9), in apportioning spoil ( Obadiah 1:11; Joel 3:3), in dividing Jesus' garments ( Matthew 27:35; Psalms 22:18). In Proverbs 16:33, "the lot is cast into the lap," i.e. into an urn or cap in the judge's lap; "but the whole disposing (Hebrew:judgment) thereof is of the Lord." Only in weighty cases resort was had to judgment by lot; it was entered on with solemnity, as God is arbiter. Sanctification of the people preceded in Joshua 7:13-18.
Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature [3]
Bibliography Information McClintock, John. Strong, James. Entry for 'Lot (2)'. Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/tce/l/lot-2.html. Harper & Brothers. New York. 1870.
