LOT (BIBLE)
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(Redirected from Lot (biblical))
According to the Bible and the Quran, 'Lot' (; Arabic: 'لوط', ''; "Hidden, covered"[1]) was the nephew of the patriarch, Abraham or Abram. He was the son of Abraham's brother Haran. (Gen. 11:27) Abram's brother Nahor became Lot's brother in law by the marriage of Nahor (Abraham's brother) to Milcah (Lot's sister).
The story of Lot is told in the Book of Genesis. Lot is mentioned in chapters 11-14 and 19.
Lot and his family went with Abraham and his family from Ur of the Chaldees to Egypt. When Abraham traveled to the Land of Canaan at the command of God, Lot accompanied him. (Gen 12:1-5). Abraham had always a great affection for him, and when they could not continue longer together in Canaan because they both had large flocks and their shepherds sometimes quarrelled (Gen 13:6,7) he gave Lot the choice of his abode. Lot went southeast to plains near the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, since the land there was well watered. (Gen. 13:10-12).
About eight years after this separation, Chedorlaomer and his allies attacked the kings of Sodom and the neighbouring cities, pillaged Sodom, and took many captives, including Lot. Abraham armed his servants, pursued the confederate kings, and overtook them near the springs of Jordan. He recovered the spoils they had taken and brought back Lot with the other captives. Abraham was offered a reward by the King of Sodom, but refused even a shoelace.
In Gen. 19, when God decided to overturn and destroy the five cities of the plain, he sent angels to rescue Lot and his family. The men of Sodom sought to rape (in some translations, meet) the angels (19:5). Lot offers the men his daughters instead, who he says are virgins (19:8), but the men are not interested.
When the sins of the Sodomites and of the neighboring cities had called down the vengeance of God to punish and destroy them, two angels were sent to Sodom to forewarn Lot of the dreadful catastrophe about to happen. The angels took Lot, his wife, and his daughters by hand and drew them forcibly out of their house, saying, "Save yourselves with all haste. Look not behind you. Get as fast as you are able to the mountain, unless you be involved in the calamity of the city." Lot entreated the angels, who consented that he might retire to Zoar, which was one of the five doomed cities. His wife, looking back on Sodom, was turned into a pillar of salt.
Lot left Zoar and retired with his two daughters to a cave in an adjacent mountain. In Gen. 19:30-38, Lot's daughters incorrectly believed they were the only females to have survived the devastation. They assumed it was their responsibility to bear children and enable the continuation of the human race. On two subsequent nights, according to the plan of the older daughter, they got their father drunk enough to have sexual intercourse with them, drunk enough that he is described as being unaware of what was happening. By him each became pregnant. The first son was named Moab (Hebrew, lit., "from the father" [meh-Av]). He was the patriarch of the nation known as Moab. The second son was named Ammon or Ben-Ammi (Hebrew, lit., "from our nation"). He became the patriarch of the nation of Ammon.
In Jesus uses Lot's wife as a warning to those who do not watch for the signs of the Apocalypse, and in Lot is described as a righteous man surrounded by wickedness.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints also exonerates Lot, claiming that the verse in which Lot offers his virgin daughters to the men of Sodom is mistranslated. The Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible reads Lot's actions this way:
"And Lot said, Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, plead with my brethren that I may not bring them out unto you; and ye shall not do unto them as seemeth good in your eyes; For God will not justify his servant in this thing; wherefore, let me plead with my brethren, this once only, that unto these men ye do nothing, that they may have peace in my house; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof." [2] Other church readings of Lot match closely the traditional Christian view.
Main articles: Islamic view of Lot
Jews and Christians do not consider Lot a prophet, but Muslims do. The story of Lot impregnating his daughters while drunk () is not mentioned the Qur'an. The Qur'an does say that when the men continued their ways of homosexuality, he offered his daughters' hands in marriage. ''And his people came rushing towards him, and they had been long in the habit of practicing abominations. He said: "O my people! Here are my daughters: they are purer for you (if ye marry)! Now fear Allah, and cover me not with shame about my guests! Is there not among you a single right-minded man?"'' .
Jewish midrash records a number of additional stories about Lot, not present in the Tanakh. These include:
★ Abraham took care of Lot after Haran was burned in a gigantic fire in which Nimrod, King of Babylon, tried to kill Abraham.
★ While in Egypt, the midrash gives Lot much credit because, despite his desire for wealth, he did not inform Pharaoh of the secret of Sarah, Abraham's wife.
There currently stands a geological formation overlooking the Dead Sea which is called "Lot's Wife" because of the shape and location of the feature.
Defenders of homosexuality view the story of Lot in the Bible as supporting rape, homophobia, and incest. They point to the following:
★ Lot offers his daughters to the men of Sodom. Lot seems to value his male guests more highly than his daughters. Some also see in the text a suggestion that raping women is a cure for homosexuality, and that homosexuality is a worse sin than the rape of women. This does not apply to either the Islamic or Latter-day Saint Account, and is also a subject of contention and discussion amongst the classical Jewish commentators. It would also suggest that Lot is not the innocent he is often depicted as.[3]
★ The story that Lot was seduced by his daughters seems highly implausible in this view. To some, it seems more likely that Lot would rape his own daughters, and then attempt to shift the blame on to them for what he did. From a feminist perspective, this is in line with patriarchal society which seeks to make victims of rape and incest responsible for their abuse, rather than the perpetrators. It should be emphasized that a plain reading of the text would seem to give little immediate support to this viewpoint. However, many scholars have noted the importance of continuing a patriarchal line in the old world and represent that Lot's daughters valued their seed enough to have their own father father their children. Also, many modern scholars feel that Lot and his daughter's felt that they were the last people alive in the area and the daughters decided to continue their seed the only way they thought possible: their father. Note that some of the above criticisms (e.g. the story of incest) do not apply to the Islamic account, since Islam denies the incest occurred.
Judges 19-21 seems to offer a story very similar to Lot's ordeal in Sodom and Gomorrah. This has led many critical scholars to surmise that both tales stem from a similar legend and not from a historical account. Such issues have also called into question whether Lot was an actual person or simply a fictional character in a cautionary fable (''101 Myths of the Bible'', Greenberg, 2000).
In the science fiction stories "Lot"(1953) and "Lot's Daughter"(1954) by Ward Moore, the Bibilical story of Lot and his daughters' survival from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah is reinterpreted as the story of the survival of a modern American family in the aftermath of nuclear war.
1. http://www.htmlbible.com/sacrednamebiblecom/kjvstrongs/FRMSTRHEB38.htm
2. http://scriptures.lds.org/en/jst/7
3. http://eaglewoman.rscsites.org/essays/karnan.htm ; http://www.iwgonline.org/pulpit/ ; http://www.baptistwatch.org/content/biblegay.html ;http://incestabuse.about.com/od/strangerrape/a/Sodom.htm
★
★ Abraham
★ Similarities between the Bible and the Qur'an
★ Our People: A History of the Jews - Abram and Lot
★ A Pillar of Salt - A lesson from Lot's wife
According to the Bible and the Quran, 'Lot' (; Arabic: 'لوط', ''; "Hidden, covered"[1]) was the nephew of the patriarch, Abraham or Abram. He was the son of Abraham's brother Haran. (Gen. 11:27) Abram's brother Nahor became Lot's brother in law by the marriage of Nahor (Abraham's brother) to Milcah (Lot's sister).
Religious literature
The Bible
Genesis
The story of Lot is told in the Book of Genesis. Lot is mentioned in chapters 11-14 and 19.
Lot and his family went with Abraham and his family from Ur of the Chaldees to Egypt. When Abraham traveled to the Land of Canaan at the command of God, Lot accompanied him. (Gen 12:1-5). Abraham had always a great affection for him, and when they could not continue longer together in Canaan because they both had large flocks and their shepherds sometimes quarrelled (Gen 13:6,7) he gave Lot the choice of his abode. Lot went southeast to plains near the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, since the land there was well watered. (Gen. 13:10-12).
About eight years after this separation, Chedorlaomer and his allies attacked the kings of Sodom and the neighbouring cities, pillaged Sodom, and took many captives, including Lot. Abraham armed his servants, pursued the confederate kings, and overtook them near the springs of Jordan. He recovered the spoils they had taken and brought back Lot with the other captives. Abraham was offered a reward by the King of Sodom, but refused even a shoelace.
In Gen. 19, when God decided to overturn and destroy the five cities of the plain, he sent angels to rescue Lot and his family. The men of Sodom sought to rape (in some translations, meet) the angels (19:5). Lot offers the men his daughters instead, who he says are virgins (19:8), but the men are not interested.
When the sins of the Sodomites and of the neighboring cities had called down the vengeance of God to punish and destroy them, two angels were sent to Sodom to forewarn Lot of the dreadful catastrophe about to happen. The angels took Lot, his wife, and his daughters by hand and drew them forcibly out of their house, saying, "Save yourselves with all haste. Look not behind you. Get as fast as you are able to the mountain, unless you be involved in the calamity of the city." Lot entreated the angels, who consented that he might retire to Zoar, which was one of the five doomed cities. His wife, looking back on Sodom, was turned into a pillar of salt.
Lot left Zoar and retired with his two daughters to a cave in an adjacent mountain. In Gen. 19:30-38, Lot's daughters incorrectly believed they were the only females to have survived the devastation. They assumed it was their responsibility to bear children and enable the continuation of the human race. On two subsequent nights, according to the plan of the older daughter, they got their father drunk enough to have sexual intercourse with them, drunk enough that he is described as being unaware of what was happening. By him each became pregnant. The first son was named Moab (Hebrew, lit., "from the father" [meh-Av]). He was the patriarch of the nation known as Moab. The second son was named Ammon or Ben-Ammi (Hebrew, lit., "from our nation"). He became the patriarch of the nation of Ammon.
New Testament
In Jesus uses Lot's wife as a warning to those who do not watch for the signs of the Apocalypse, and in Lot is described as a righteous man surrounded by wickedness.
Joseph Smith translation of the Bible
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints also exonerates Lot, claiming that the verse in which Lot offers his virgin daughters to the men of Sodom is mistranslated. The Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible reads Lot's actions this way:
"And Lot said, Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, plead with my brethren that I may not bring them out unto you; and ye shall not do unto them as seemeth good in your eyes; For God will not justify his servant in this thing; wherefore, let me plead with my brethren, this once only, that unto these men ye do nothing, that they may have peace in my house; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof." [2] Other church readings of Lot match closely the traditional Christian view.
Qur'an
Main articles: Islamic view of Lot
Jews and Christians do not consider Lot a prophet, but Muslims do. The story of Lot impregnating his daughters while drunk () is not mentioned the Qur'an. The Qur'an does say that when the men continued their ways of homosexuality, he offered his daughters' hands in marriage. ''And his people came rushing towards him, and they had been long in the habit of practicing abominations. He said: "O my people! Here are my daughters: they are purer for you (if ye marry)! Now fear Allah, and cover me not with shame about my guests! Is there not among you a single right-minded man?"'' .
Midrash
Jewish midrash records a number of additional stories about Lot, not present in the Tanakh. These include:
★ Abraham took care of Lot after Haran was burned in a gigantic fire in which Nimrod, King of Babylon, tried to kill Abraham.
★ While in Egypt, the midrash gives Lot much credit because, despite his desire for wealth, he did not inform Pharaoh of the secret of Sarah, Abraham's wife.
Geography
Geological formation overlooking Dead Sea, called Lot's Wife.
There currently stands a geological formation overlooking the Dead Sea which is called "Lot's Wife" because of the shape and location of the feature.
Critical viewpoints
Homosexuality
Hendrik Goltzius' 1616 painting ''Lot and his daughters'' shows Lot being seduced by his two daughters.
Defenders of homosexuality view the story of Lot in the Bible as supporting rape, homophobia, and incest. They point to the following:
★ Lot offers his daughters to the men of Sodom. Lot seems to value his male guests more highly than his daughters. Some also see in the text a suggestion that raping women is a cure for homosexuality, and that homosexuality is a worse sin than the rape of women. This does not apply to either the Islamic or Latter-day Saint Account, and is also a subject of contention and discussion amongst the classical Jewish commentators. It would also suggest that Lot is not the innocent he is often depicted as.[3]
★ The story that Lot was seduced by his daughters seems highly implausible in this view. To some, it seems more likely that Lot would rape his own daughters, and then attempt to shift the blame on to them for what he did. From a feminist perspective, this is in line with patriarchal society which seeks to make victims of rape and incest responsible for their abuse, rather than the perpetrators. It should be emphasized that a plain reading of the text would seem to give little immediate support to this viewpoint. However, many scholars have noted the importance of continuing a patriarchal line in the old world and represent that Lot's daughters valued their seed enough to have their own father father their children. Also, many modern scholars feel that Lot and his daughter's felt that they were the last people alive in the area and the daughters decided to continue their seed the only way they thought possible: their father. Note that some of the above criticisms (e.g. the story of incest) do not apply to the Islamic account, since Islam denies the incest occurred.
Scholarship
Judges 19-21 seems to offer a story very similar to Lot's ordeal in Sodom and Gomorrah. This has led many critical scholars to surmise that both tales stem from a similar legend and not from a historical account. Such issues have also called into question whether Lot was an actual person or simply a fictional character in a cautionary fable (''101 Myths of the Bible'', Greenberg, 2000).
Science Fiction
In the science fiction stories "Lot"(1953) and "Lot's Daughter"(1954) by Ward Moore, the Bibilical story of Lot and his daughters' survival from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah is reinterpreted as the story of the survival of a modern American family in the aftermath of nuclear war.
References
1. http://www.htmlbible.com/sacrednamebiblecom/kjvstrongs/FRMSTRHEB38.htm
2. http://scriptures.lds.org/en/jst/7
3. http://eaglewoman.rscsites.org/essays/karnan.htm ; http://www.iwgonline.org/pulpit/ ; http://www.baptistwatch.org/content/biblegay.html ;http://incestabuse.about.com/od/strangerrape/a/Sodom.htm
★
See also
★ Abraham
★ Similarities between the Bible and the Qur'an
External links
★ Our People: A History of the Jews - Abram and Lot
★ A Pillar of Salt - A lesson from Lot's wife
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