But Lot’s wife looked back as she was following behind him, and she turned into a pillar of salt.
Parallel translations
- WEB But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.
- KJV But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.
- BSB But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.
- NKJV But his wife looked back behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.
- NASB But Lot’s wife, from behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Lot's wife looks back and becomes a pillar of salt.
Overview
Her backward look, defying the angels' command, reveals a heart still bound to Sodom and brings sudden judgment. She becomes a perpetual warning against half-hearted escape from sin. Jesus points to her as a caution to those tempted to turn back on the day of judgment (Luke 17:32).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Luke 17:31–32In that day, he who will be on the housetop, and his goods in the house, let him not go down to take them away. Let him who is in the field likewise not turn back.
- Gen 19:17It came to pass, when they had taken them out, that he said, “Escape for your life! Don’t look behind you, and don’t stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be consumed!”
- Heb 10:38But the righteous will live by faith. If he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.”
- Prov 14:14The unfaithful will be repaid for his own ways; likewise a good man will be rewarded for his ways.
- Num 16:38even the censers of these sinners against their own lives. Let them be made beaten plates for a covering of the altar, for they offered them before Yahweh. Therefore they are holy. They shall be a sign to the children of Israel.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.
How Genesis 19:26 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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