Lot's Wife

Lot’s wife’s story begins in the book of Genesis, where Lot flees Egypt with Abram and Sarai (who later become Abraham and Sarah). It’s unclear whether Lot’s wife flees Egypt with the trio or meets and marries Lot later in her birthplace of Sodom. Lot, who is Abram’s nephew, eventually parts with his uncle and settles down in Sodom, despite knowing the city’s bad reputation. He lives there with his wife, two daughters, and his sons-in-law, amassing great wealth. The city’s reputation as a wicked enclave existed far before Lot’s arrival. The constant news of Sodom’s wickedness is so great that it draws God’s attention. God decides to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah if there aren’t at least 10 worthy men in the cities.

One day, two angels in the guise of men arrive at Sodom’s gates. Lot greets them and offers hospitality, and the angels finally accept. It’s traditionally believed that Lot’s male neighbors surround Lot’s house and demand to have sex with the disguised angels. Lot tries offering his virgin daughters to the mob instead, to no avail. The angels, realizing there aren’t at least 10 worthy men, blind the men outside and tell Lot that God will soon destroy the cities for wickedness.

The angels allow Lot and his family to flee on one condition: They can’t look back while doing so. Lot’s sons scoff at this announcement and remain in the city, so Lot flees with his wife and daughters. His wife looks back and turns into a pillar of salt. Later, Lot becomes so drunk that he has sex with both of his daughters without realizing it (they hatch the plan to ensure his lineage continues, thus ushering in the Moabite and Ammonite tribes).

Religious texts don’t confirm the reason Lot’s wife looks back. Her narrative arc is but one verse: “But Lot’s wife, from behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt” (New American Standard Bible. Gen. 19.26). Did Lot’s wife look back to ensure her daughters were following? Was she checking to see what the devastation entailed? Was it just a routine human reaction, an impulse, despite the heavenly warning? The Bible depicts her sin as one of disobedience tied to materialism and earthly attachment. She disobeys God by looking back because the memory of what Hecht calls “exquisite satisfactions” (Line 2) is just too great. Hecht, however, paints a different picture by calling his poem “Lot’s Wife.” As an exercise in recollection, Hecht’s poem asks who really displayed morality in the poem: The woman who held allegiance to her loved ones and homeland and so looked back, or the God who destroyed this woman for exhibiting a human impulse created by Him?

Lot’s wife has no name in the Bible, and the Quranic telling of Lut (Lot) doesn’t mention her by name. There are Jewish accounts of Lot’s story that call her Edith or Ado, while the Shalvi/Hyman Encyclopedia of Jewish Women lists her as a jealous woman known as Idit. In this version, she procures salt from her neighbors to offer the angels, but she scoffs at playing host. She lets slip that the guests are in Lot’s house, resulting in the events that follow (Kadari, Tamar. “Lot’s Wife: Midrash and Aggadah.” Shalvi/Hyman Encyclopedia of Jewish Women. 31 Dec. 1999. Jewish Women’s Archive). Hecht’s poem works as an inverse to the nameless wife/woman trope: Hecht names his poem “Lot’s Wife,” thus placing emphasis on the subject matter surrounding Lot’s wife, yet he doesn’t mention her in the text itself. Conversely, most religious texts refer to Lot’s wife’s story but don’t name her or place any great significance on her. She’s known as a minor Bible character. Most accounts focus instead on Lot (the male) and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (the sin).