lot Summary and Overview

(Heb. goral, a "pebble"), a small stone used in casting lots (Num. 33:54; Jonah 1:7). The lot was always resorted to by the Hebrews with strictest reference to the interposition of God, and as a method of ascertaining the divine will (Prov. 16:33), and in serious cases of doubt (Esther 3:7). Thus the lot was used at the division of the land of Canaan among the serveral tribes (Num. 26:55; 34:13), at the detection of Achan (Josh. 7:14, 18), the election of Saul to be king (1 Sam. 10:20, 21), the distribution of the priestly offices of the temple service (1 Chr. 24:3, 5, 19; Luke 1:9), and over the two goats at the feast of Atonement (Lev. 16:8). Matthias, who was "numbered with the eleven" (Acts 1:24-26), was chosen by lot. This word also denotes a portion or an inheritance (Josh. 15:1; Ps. 125:3; Isa. 17:4), and a destiny, as assigned by God (Ps. 16:5; Dan. 12:13). Lot, (Heb. lot), a covering; veil, the son of Haran, and nephew of Abraham (Gen. 11:27). On the death of his father, he was left in charge of his grandfather Terah (31), after whose death he accompanied his uncle Abraham into Canaan (12:5), thence into Egypt (10), and back again to Canaan (13:1). After this he separated from him and settled in Sodom (13:5-13). There his righteous soul was "vexed" from day to day (2 Pet. 2:7), and he had great cause to regret this act. Not many years after the separation he was taken captive by Chedorlaomer, and was rescued by Abraham (Gen. 14). At length, when the judgment of God descended on the guilty cities of the plain (Gen. 19:1-20), Lot was miraculously delivered. When fleeing from the doomed city his wife "looked back from behind him, and became a pillar of salt." There is to this day a peculiar crag at the south end of the Dead Sea, near Kumran, which the Arabs call Bint Sheik Lot, i.e., Lot's wife. It is "a tall, isolated needle of rock, which really does bear a curious resemblance to an Arab woman with a child upon her shoulder." From the words of warning in Luke 17:32, "Remember Lot's wife," it would seem as if she had gone back, or tarried so long behind in the desire to save some of her goods, that she became involved in the destruction which fell on the city, and became a stiffened corpse, fixed for a time in the saline incrustations. She became "a pillar of salt", i.e., as some think, of asphalt. (See SALT T0003196.) Lot and his daughters sought refuge first in Zoar, and then, fearing to remain there longer, retired to a cave in the neighbouring mountains (Gen. 19:30). Lot has recently been connected with the people called on the Egyptian monuments Rotanu or Lotanu, who is supposed to have been the hero of the Edomite tribe Lotan.

LOT (a covering, veil), the son of Ilaran and nephew of Abraham, was born in Ur, a city of Chaldea, where his father died, and followed, with Abraham and Terah, to Mesopotamia, where the latter died at Haran. Gen 11:31-32, thence to Canaan, Gen 12:4-5, and probably also to Egypt. After the return from Egypt the herds of Abraham and Lot had greatly increased. The tract of land they occupied was inconveniently small; strife arose between their herdmen, and Abraham proposed they should separate, leaving the choice to Lot whether he would go eastward or westward. Lot chose that region of the valley of the Jordan in which Sodom and Gomorrah were situated, but thereby he became involved in the warfare waged by Chedorlaomer against the two cities, was carried away as a prisoner of war, and was only rescued by the valor of Abraham, who attacked and defeated Chedorlaomer. Lot returned to Sodom, and, though he loathed the life of perdition which was led in that city, he remained there and chose his sons-in-law among the Sodomites. When, at last, the measure of iniquity was full and doom was passed over the city, Lot and his family were saved only by the aid of special messengers from the Lord, who accompanied them from Sodom to Zoar; but Lot's "wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt." Gen 19:26. Lot removed from Zoar and dwelt in the mountains, after which he disappears from history. The nations of the Ammonites and Moabites descended from him.

Haran's son, Abraham's nephew (Genesis 11:27-31). Born in Ur of the Chaldees, before Terah's emigration. Accompanied Abram to Charan, then to Canaan (Genesis 12:4-5), then, in the famine, to Egypt. On their return a quarrel arose between Abram's and Lot's herdsmen. In the spirit of a child of God Abram goes to Lot himself, instead of listening to subordinates' reports, and begs as they are brethren there should be no strife between them (contrast Acts 15:39), and offers Lot precedency, though as his senior Abram might have claimed it; "if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right," etc. Lot chose by sight, not faith, the richly watered circle of the Jordan, fertile, but the region of wicked Sodom (Joshua 7:24; Joshua 8:15). At first Lot only "pitched his tent toward Sodom," but he was venturing too near temptation not to be caught (Psalm 1:1; 1 Corinthians 15:33). He soon was dwelling in a "house" in Sodom, and paid the penalty in being carried off with his much-loved "goods" by Chedorlaomer; he was rescued only by the disinterested bravery and magnanimity of Abram, who, forgetting Lot's unamiable conduct, thought only of how to rescue him at all hazards in his distress. This warning ought to have been enough to drive Lot from Sodom, but no, he still lives there. Next, Lot appears exercising that goodly hospitality by which he" entertained angels unawares," and for which the Epistle to Hebrew (Hebrews 13:2) commends him. Evidently, the luxury of worldly Sodom had not wholly corrupted the simplicity of his character. The Spirit of God, who knows hearts, designates him (2 Peter 2:7-9) "just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation (the licentious behaviour) of the wicked" (the lawless, who set at defiance the laws of nature and God). The Sodomites' words, "this one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge" refer evidently to Lot's remonstrances with them which Peter presupposes. The gracious Lord reminds us of his faithfulness, not of his subsequent incest. If there had been "ten" such "fellows" in Sodom Jehovah would have spared it (Genesis 18:32). Again God records, "that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed (tormented) his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds." Lot had gone into temptation, and must have perished but, for God's grace; to all appearances his position was hopeless, but "the Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations," He is at no loss for means. The angels' visit was meant to test Lot as well as the Sodomites. The angels' declining his invitation at first, "we will abide in the street (the broad open space) all night," answers to Jesus' mode of eliciting the faith of the two Emmaus disciples (Luke 24:28). His sin is faithfully recorded, his offering to sacrifice his daughters' honour to save his guests. He was retributively punished by those daughters sacrificing their father's honour and their own. They seem to have been only betrothed, not yet married, to Lot's so-called "sons in law." When he warned them to flee from the coming destruction "he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law" (compare Luke 24:11). His imperfection of faith appears in that "he lingered" even on the morning of Sodom's doom. But the angels "laid hold upon his hand ... the Lord being merciful to him (Romans 9:15-16) ... and set him without the city." They further warned him, "escape for thy life, look not behind thee (compare the Christian's motto, Philemon 3:13; Luke 9:62), neither stay thou in all the plain," the (ciccar) circuit of Jordan which he had so coveted. Defective faith made him plead for leave to stay at Zoar, which, as "a little one," he urges could have but few sinning in it so as to incur a share in Sodom's doom. God grants even this, and adds "I cannot do anything until thou be come there"; God's love controls His omnipotence (Matthew 27:42). Lot's wife "looked back" with regrets on Sodom's sinful pleasures, then stayed behind, and "became a pillar of salt"; possibly overtaken by the fire and brimstone and incrusted with salt. The Americans found E. of Usdum a pillar of salt 40 ft. high, which may be the traditional one identified with Sodom's wife (Josephus, Ant. 1:11). Vacillation in faith led him to doubt even Zoar's safety, notwithstanding God's promise. From "lingering" about Sodom, Lot passes to the opposite extreme, desponding of safety even in its extreme skirt. His unbelief issued in the sin in the cave, and the offspring were "the children of Lot," Moab and Ammon (Deuteronomy 2:9; Deuteronomy 2:19; Psalm 73:8). See our Lord's spiritual lesson from Sodom and Lot's wife (Luke 17:28-32).