Lot (biblical person)

Lot's background

Lot and his father Haran were born and raised in Ur of the Chaldees (Genesis 11:28,31) in the region of Sumeria on the Euphrates River of lower Mesopotamia, roughly four thousand years ago. Haran died in that land before his father Terah. (Genesis 11:28)

Genesis 11:26-32 gives the "generations of Terah", Lot's grandfather, who arranged for their large family to set a course for Canaan where they could reestablish a new home. Among the family members that Lot travelled with was his uncle Abram, (later called Abraham), one of the three patriarchs of Israel.

En route to Canaan, the family stopped in the Paddan Aram region, about halfway along the Fertile Crescent between Mesopotamia and the Mediterranean. They settled at the site called Haran where Lot's grandfather, Terah, lived the rest of his days. He was 205 years old when he died. (Genesis 11:32)

Genesis 12 reveals Abram's obedience to the LORD at the age of 75, in continuing his journey to the land of promise. Though Abram's father, Terah, stayed behind, his nephew Lot went with him.^[v.1-4] There is no mention of Lot having a wife yet. They went southwestward into the land of Canaan, to the place of Sichem,^[v.5-6] the present day West Bank of Nablus. Later they travelled south to the hills between Bethel and Hai,^[v.8] before journeying further toward the south of Canaan.^[v.9]

After dwelling in the land of Canaan for a little while, there was a famine, and they journeyed further south into Egypt.^[v.10-20] After having dwelt in Egypt for some time, they acquired vast amounts of wealth and livestock, and returned to the Bethel area.^[Gen.13:1-5]

Lot in the plain of Jordan

Genesis 13 helps and discusses Abram and Lot's return to Canaan after the famine had passed and the lands became fertile again. They traveled back through the Negev to the hills of Bethel.^[v.1,3] With their sizeable numbers of livestock and always on the move, both families occupying the same pastures became problematic for the herdsmen who were assigned to each family's herd.^[v.6,7] The conflicts between herdsmen had become so troublesome that Abram recommended to Lot that they should part ways, lest there be conflict amongst "brethren".^[v.8,9]

Although Abram gave Lot the choice of going north (the left hand), in which case he would go south (the right hand), or if Lot chose south, Abram would go north, Lot instead looked before him beyond Jordan and saw a well watered plain, and chose that land, for it was like "the garden of the LORD", before the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and the formation of the salt sea. (Genesis 13:9-11) Abram then headed south to Hebron, staying within the land of Canaan. (Genesis 13:12,18)

Lot had encamped on the green Jordan plain among the cities of the plain and initially pitched his tent toward Sodom. About eight years before he moved there, the kings of the five cities had become vassal states of an eastern alliance of four kingdoms under the leadership of Chedorlaomer king of Elam, whom they served for twelve years, but "the thirteenth year they rebelled." (Genesis 14:1–4) The following year the four armies with Chedorlaomer returned and at the Battle of the Vale of Siddim, the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fell in defeat.^[v.5–10] Chedorlaomer spoiled the cities and took captives as he departed, including Lot, who by then "dwelt" in Sodom.^[v.11,12]

When Abram heard what had happened to his "brother" Lot, he armed a rescue force of three hundred and eighteen of his trained servants and pursued and caught up to the armies of the four kings in the area of Dan.^[v.13,14] He divided his forces and attacked at night from more than one direction, and the kings fled northeast. The pursuit continued and the "slaughter of Chedorlaomer", and the other kings was completed at Hobah north of Damascus. Abram brought back "his brother Lot" and all the people and their goods. (v.15–24)

Lot flees Sodom

Twenty four years after Abram and Lot began their sojourning, the LORD changed Abram's name to Abraham, and gave him the covenant of circumcision.^{[Genesis 17]} Not long afterward, "the LORD appeared" to Abraham, for "three men" came to visit and have a meal with him, and after two left to go to Sodom, "Abraham stood yet before the LORD."^{[Gen.18:1-22]} Abraham boldly pleaded on behalf of the people of Sodom, where Lot dwelt, and obtained assurance the city would not be destroyed if fifty righteous were found there. He continued inquiring, reducing the number to forty five, forty, thirty, twenty, and finally if there were ten righteous in the city, it would be spared.^[18:23-33]

After supper that night before bedtime, the men of the city, young and old, gathered around Lot's house demanding he bring his two guests out that they might "know" them. Lot went out and closed the door behind him and prayed that they not do such wicked things, and offered them his virgin daughters, that had not "known" man, that they might know them instead, and do with as they pleased. His response infuriated the men of Sodom who accused him of being judgmental and they threatened to do worse to him than they would have done to the men.^{[Gen.19:4–9]}

Before they could harm Lot and break into the house, the men pulled Lot back in and struck the intruders with blindness, and revealed to Lot that they were angels sent to destroy the place. This allowed a window of opportunity for Lot to make preparations for him and his family to leave. When he went out to the men that were engaged to marry his daughters, warning them to flee, they assumed he was joking.^{[Gen.19:10–14]}

As the day began to dawn, the angels urged him to hurry up and leave; when he lingered, the angels took hold of Lot, his wife and two daughters, and transported them beyond the city and set them down. The angel told Lot, "Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed."^{[Gen.19:15–17]} Lot argued that if he went to the mountain some evil would cause his death, and he requested to be allowed to flee instead to the "little" city which was closer. (This city of Bela was later called Zoar because it was little.) His request was accepted, and they headed for Zoar instead.^{[Gen.19:18–22]}

Abraham could see the smoke billowing upward from the countryside.^[v.27,28]

Instead of both fire and brimstone, Josephus has only lightning as the cause of the fire that destroyed Sodom: "God then cast a thunderbolt upon the city, and set it on fire, with its inhabitants; and laid waste the country with the like burning, as I formerly said when I wrote The Jewish War."

Lot and his daughters

The account of Lot and his daughters is in Genesis 19:30-38

The older daughter conceived Moab (Hebrew מוֹאָב, lit., "from the father" [meh-Av]), father of the Moabites;^[v.37] the younger conceived Ben-Ammi (Hebrew בֶּן-עַמִּי, lit., "Son of my people"), father of the Ammonites.^[v.38]

The story, usually called Lot and his daughters, has been the subject of many paintings over the centuries, and became one of the subjects in the Power of Women group of subjects, warning men against the dangers of succumbing to the temptations of women, while also providing an opportunity for an erotic depiction. The scene generally shows Lot and his daughters eating and drinking in their mountain refuge. Often the background contains a small figure of Lot's wife, and in the distance, a burning city.

Jewish view

In the Bereshith of the Torah, Lot is first mentioned at the end of the weekly reading portion, Parashat Noach. The weekly reading portions that follow, concerning all of the accounts of Lot's life, are read in the Parashat Lekh Lekha and Parashat Vayera. In the Midrash, a number of additional stories concerning Lot are present, not found in the Tanakh, as follows:

Christian view

In the Christian New Testament, Lot is considered sympathetically, as a man who regretted his choice to live in Sodom, where he "vexed his righteous soul from day to day" (2 Peter 2:6-9). Jesus spoke of future judgment coming suddenly as in the days of Lot, and warned solemnly, "Remember Lot's wife". (Luke 17:28-33)

Islamic view

Lut (Arabic: لوط‎‎) in the Quran is considered to be the same as Lot in the Hebrew Bible. He is considered to be a messenger of God and a prophet of God.

In Islamic tradition, Lut lived in Ur and was a nephew of Ibrahim (Abraham). He migrated with Ibrahim to Canaan and was commissioned as a prophet to the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. His story is used as a reference by some Muslims to demonstrate Islam's disapproval of homosexuality. He was commanded by Allah to go to the land of Sodom and Gomorrah to preach monotheism and to stop them from their lustful and violent acts. Lut's messages were ignored by the inhabitants, prompting Sodom and Gomorrah's destruction. Though Lut left the city, his wife looked behind and was destroyed.

Modern views

The presumptive incest between Lot and his daughters has raised many questions, debates, and theories as to what the real motives were, who really was at fault, and the level of bias the author of Genesis Chapter 19 had. However, such biblical scholars as Jacob Milgrom, Victor P. Hamilton, and Calum Carmichael postulate that the Levitical laws could not have been developed the way they were, without controversial issues surrounding the patriarchs of Israel, especially regarding incest. Carmichael even attributes the entire formulation of the Levitical laws to the lives of the founding fathers of the nation, including the righteous Lot (together with Abraham, Jacob, Judah, Moses, and David), who were outstanding figures in Israelite tradition.

According to the scholars mentioned above, the patriarchs of Israel are the key to understanding how the priestly laws concerning incest developed. Kinship marriages amongst the patriarchs includes Abraham's marriage to his half-sister Sarai;^{[Gen.20:11,12]} the marriage of Abraham's brother, Nahor, to their niece Milcah;^{[Gen.11:27–29]} Isaac's marriage to Rebekah, his first cousin once removed;^{[Gen.27:42–43;29:10]} Jacob's marriages with two sisters who are his first cousins;^{[Gen.29:10,Ch.29]} and, in the instance of Moses's parents, a marriage between nephew and aunt (father's sister).^[Exod.6:20] Therefore, the patriarchal marriages surely mattered to lawgivers and they suggest a narrative basis for the laws of Leviticus, chapters 18 and 20.

The Levitical laws against incest were created, it has been argued, to separate the lifestyle of the Israelite from the lifestyle of the people of Canaan,^{[Gen.9:22–28]} despite any incestual involvements the patriarchs had had in the past. The Levitical laws were needed for a developing nation who needed to be seen as different from the world, cleansed and blameless: The first step starting with circumcision.^{[Gen.17:1,10;Ch.17]} So nothing could be held against the patriarchs for incestuous behavior because this was part of progressive development, from the ways of the world (coming out of Chaldea) to becoming blameless before their God.^[Gen.17:1]

Some have argued that Lot's behavior in offering of his daughters to the men of Sodom in Genesis 19:8 constitutes sexual abuse of his daughters, which created a confusion of kinship roles that was ultimately played out through the incestuous acts in Genesis 19:30–38.

A number of commentators describe the actions of Lot's daughters as rape. Esther Fuchs suggests that the text presents Lot's daughters as the "initiators and perpetrators of the incestuous 'rape'."

Others have drawn parallels between the story and modern-day incidents of alcohol abuse and sexual abuse. Pointing out that the chances of both daughters becoming pregnant after a single incident is minimal, they consider the base facts of the story (father alone with his daughters, both daughters get pregnant) as indicating repeated abusive behaviour. The details of the story as written down in Genesis (daughters cunningly fed their father too much alcohol and had sex with him while he was drunk) is interpreted there as the abuser's way of explaining the events by placing the blame for both the alcohol abuse and the sexual abuse with the children. This is compared to modern abusive fathers blaming their daughters for being too "seductive", as abusers try to shift blame for abuse onto the victims they abused.