Lot's Wife

Biblical Account

Lot's wife appears in Genesis 19. Scripture does not give her name, her origin, or when she married. She was the wife of Lot, the nephew of Abraham, during the time he lived in Sodom, and she had two daughters (Genesis 19:15).

At dawn, the two angels who had come to destroy Sodom urged Lot to leave with his wife and two daughters. When Lot lingered, the angels took Lot, his wife, and his two daughters by the hand and brought them outside the city (Genesis 19:16). The angel told them not to look back, not to stop anywhere in the plain, and to flee to the mountains (Genesis 19:17). When Lot reached Zoar, God rained brimstone and fire upon Sodom and Gomorrah. At that point, "his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt" (Genesis 19:26). Scripture does not record a single word spoken by her.

Significance Within Scripture

In the Old Testament, Lot's wife is not mentioned again outside Genesis 19.

In the New Testament, Jesus, speaking in Luke 17 about the day of the Son of Man, that is, the day of the Second Coming, said, "Remember Lot's wife" (Luke 17:32). The preceding verse says that on that day whoever is on the housetop should not come down to take his goods, and whoever is in the field should likewise not turn back. The following verse adds that whoever seeks to save his life shall lose it. In this context, Lot's wife serves as a cautionary example against hesitating at the time of judgment or setting one's heart on what has been left behind.

2 Peter 2:6–8 speaks of the judgment of Sodom and the deliverance of "just Lot" but does not mention his wife.

Interpretations and Debates

• Why she looked back: The text does not give a reason. Interpreters have proposed the following:
• Attachment to the wealth and way of life of Sodom
• Disobedience to, or unbelief in, the angels' words
• Concern for family members left in the city. Interpretations that take the "sons in law" of Genesis 19:14 as evidence that Lot had other, already married daughters belong to this category.

Because the Hebrew text includes the phrase "from behind him," some interpreters emphasize that she was walking behind Lot and had fallen behind him.

• The pillar of salt: Some interpreters read the text literally, holding that her body was actually turned into salt. Others take it as a description of how, having lagged behind, she was overtaken by the catastrophe and died covered in salt and brimstone.
• Extrabiblical traditions: The following accounts are not based on the biblical text.
• Jewish tradition reportedly gives her name as "Edith," among other names.
• The apocryphal Wisdom of Solomon 10:7, which Protestants do not accept as canonical, describes the pillar of salt as a monument to an unbelieving soul.
• The first-century Jewish historian Josephus reportedly wrote that he had seen the pillar himself.
• The name "Lot's Wife" given to a salt rock formation south of the Dead Sea is likewise a later designation.
• Use as a warning text: Luke 17:32 is also cited as a warning against falling away from the faith. The Wesleyan tradition tends to read it as a warning that a believer can actually fall away from salvation. The Reformed tradition, within the framework of the perseverance of the saints (the doctrine that those who truly believe will not finally fall away from the faith), tends to read it as a warning that serves as a means by which believers are kept in the faith to the end.

In the Korean Church

"Remember Lot's wife" is frequently quoted in Korean church preaching. It is used mainly for the following purposes:

• An exhortation to let go of attachment to the world
• A call to prepare for the Second Coming
• An encouragement to press forward rather than be bound by the past

In Sunday school, her story is taught as part of the account of Sodom and Gomorrah and is commonly used to illustrate the importance of obedience. However, since the text does not reveal why she looked back or what her character was like, all explanations of these matters are a matter of interpretation.