Lot (Bible)

According to the Bible and the Quran, Lot () is not mentioned in the Koran and is considered a lie. The Koran does say that the people of Lot insisted on their wickedness of raping men, murder, and robbery while also refusing to stay lawful to their wives. "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 (my nation's daughters): they are purer for you (if ye marry)! Now fear God, and cover me not with shame about my guests (for wanting to rape them)! Is there not among you a single right-minded man? (a believer in God)" quran-usc|11|78.

Today, the meaning of "sodomites" is used after the 'evil' acts of people of Sodom.

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

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

Defenders of homosexuality view the story of Lot in the Bible as supporting rape and homophobia 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.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]
*The story that Lot was seduced by his daughters seems highly implausible in this view. 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. Islam meanwhile denies the incest occurred.
*However, these views regarding incest can be argued as being incorrect, as the nation of Moab, a cursed tribe in the context of the Bible, was founded by two daughters who committed incest with their father; the nation being cursed because of their incestuous relations with him.

cholarship

The Biblical Book of 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).

Later international relations

In modern historical research, legendary accounts (in the Bible as elsewhere) of the eponymous ancestors of tribes or nations are interpreted as reflecting the actual relationships between these tribes or nations. Thus, the legend of Lot's incest with his daughters should be considered as reflecting the historical Hebrews' view of the historical Moabites and Ammonites - their direct neighbours to the east.

As such, the story indicates an acknowlegement of these neighbours being "cousins" (Lot being Abraham's nephew) but also a rather unflattering and unrespectful attitude in ascribing to them such an origin. This accords well with the account given in later parts of the Bible, and supported by surviving Moabite inscriptions, which indicates that Moabites and Ammonites were closely related to the Hebrews in culture and language, but nevertheless were on many occasions involved in bloody wars with them.

cience 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.Fact|date=April 2007

Popular culture

* Comic book artist Brad Neely depicts Lot's story in his short titled "Bible History #1".
* The band Coldplay incorporated the image of Lot's wife into their 2008 song "Viva la Vida" (from the album "Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends") when the song states that the king's castle was built on "pillars of salt and pillars of sand". [http://www.metrolyrics.com/viva-la-vida-lyrics-coldplay.html]
* The band The Thermals used imagery from this story in their 2006 song "A Pillar of Salt".

ee also

* Abraham
* Biblical narratives and the Qur'an

References

*cite book | last = Calmet | first = Augustin | authorlink = Antoine Augustin Calmet | year = 1837 | title = Calmet's Dictionary of the Holy Bible | publisher = Crocker & Brewster | location = Boston | id = LCC|BS440.C3

External links

* [http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?AID=246613 Our People: A History of the Jews - Abram and Lot]
* [http://www.chabad.org/article.asp?AID=209353 A Pillar of Salt - A lesson from Lot's wife]
* [http://www.superdeluxe.com/sd/contentDetail.do?id=D81F2344BF5AC7BB77D6A0E55069BD0A9B3A52CB005FA7D7 Bible History #1 by Brad Neely]