Lot's Wife

Sources

Lot’s wife looked back, and she thereupon turned into a pillar of salt. Next morning, Abraham hurried to the place where he had stood before יהוה, and, looking down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and all the land of the Plain, he saw the smoke of the land rising like the smoke of a kiln.

Genesis 19:26-28

“His wife looked behind him, and she became a pillar of salt” (Genesis 19:26).
“His wife looked behind him, [and she became a pillar of salt]” – Rabbi Yitzḥak said: This was because she sinned with salt on that night that the angels came to Lot. What did she do? She went to all her neighbors and said to them: ‘Give me salt, as we have guests,’ and her intention was that the residents of the city should become aware of them. That is why “she became a pillar of salt.”

Bereshit Rabbah 51:5

A PILLAR. Nitziv (pillar) means the same as matzevah. Her bones were burned by brimstone and she was encrusted in salt, for it is written, brimstone, and salt…like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim (Deut. 29:22). This verse also shows that Zoar was not destroyed. The latter is also borne out by the words of the angel.

Ibn Ezra on Genesis 19:26:2

ותהי נציב מלח AND SHE BECAME A PILLAR OF SALT — By salt had she sinned and by salt was she punished. He (Lot) said to her once: “Give a little salt to these strangers” and she answered him, “Do you mean to introduce this bad custom, also, into our city?” (Genesis Rabbah 50:4).

Rashi on Genesis 19:26:2

Still he delayed. So the agents seized his hand, and the hands of his wife and his two daughters—in יהוה’s mercy on him—and brought him out and left him outside the city. When they had brought them outside, one said, “Flee for your life! Do not look behind you, nor stop anywhere in the Plain; flee to the hills, lest you be swept away.” But Lot said to them, “Oh no, my lord! You have been so gracious to your servant, and have already shown me so much kindness in order to save my life; but I cannot flee to the hills, lest the disaster overtake me and I die…

Genesis 19:16-25

Explore Topicsנושאים כלליים

Jewish Calendar

Biblical Figures

Talmudic Figures

More

Sheetsדפי מקורות

We use cookies to give you the best experience possible on our site. Click OK to continue using Sefaria. Learn More.OKאנחנו משתמשים ב"עוגיות" כדי לתת למשתמשים את חוויית השימוש הטובה ביותר.קראו עוד בנושאלחצו כאן לאישור