Lot's wife

In the Bible, Lot's wife is a figure first mentioned in Genesis 19. The Book of Genesis describes how she became a pillar of salt after she looked back at Sodom. She is called "Ado" or "Edith" in some Jewish traditions, but is not named in the Bible. She is also referred to in the deuterocanonical books at Wisdom 10:7 and the New Testament at Luke 17:32.

The Sodom and Gomorrah motif from the Nuremberg Chronicle by Hartmann Schedel, 1493. Note Lot's wife, already transformed into a salt pillar, in the center.

The narrative of Lot's wife begins in Genesis 19 after two angels arrived in Sodom, at eventide, and were invited to spend the night at Lot's home. 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. Lot delayed, so the angels took hold of his hand, his wife's hand and his daughters and brought them out of the city. The command was given, "Flee for your life! Do not look behind you, nor stop anywhere in the Plain; flee to the hills, lest you be swept away.":465 Lot objected to the idea of fleeing to the hills and requested safe haven at a little town nearby. The request was granted and the town became known as Zoar. Traveling behind her husband, Lot's wife looked back, and became a pillar of salt.:466

The Hebrew verb used for Lot's wife "looking" back is תבט‎, tāḇeṭ. Her looking back at Sodom differs in word usage to Abraham "looking" שקף‎, šāqap toward Sodom in (18:16).:49

The 'Lot's wife' sea-stack, Marsden Bay

Sodom's destruction; Lot and daughters escape; Monreale Cathedral mosaics

The story appears to be based in part on a folk legend explaining a geographic feature.

A pillar of salt named "Lot's wife" is located near the Dead Sea at Mount Sodom in Israel. The Mishnah states that a blessing should be said at the place where the pillar of salt is.:467 Other pillars are said to be at the crossing of the Red Sea as well as at the Wall of Jericho.:467

The Jewish historian Josephus claimed to have seen the pillar of salt which was Lot's wife. Its existence is also attested to by the early church fathers Clement of Rome and Irenaeus.

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 turned to a pillar of salt.

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.: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.: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.:467

In the Midrash, Lot's wife's name is given as Edith.:466

Lot's wife is named in Wisdom 10:7 and mentioned by Jesus at Luke 17:32 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.