LOT lŏt (לֹֽוט, LXX Λωτ, covering, from root to wrap closely). Lot was the son of Haran, the youngest brother of Abraham (Gen 11:27, 31; 12:5). He was born in Ur of the Chaldees, usually identified as a site 160 m. N of the Persian Gulf (but cf. C. H. Gordon, JNES, XVII (1958), 28-31, who identifies it with a northern location). He migrated to Haran with his grandfather, Terah, and Abram and Sarai. Later, with Abram and Sarai, he migrated into Canaan. The Biblical data regarding his life can be listed under five major episodes.
1. When Lot’s father died in Ur, Lot chose to accompany the portion of the family that was migrating from Mesopotamia into Canaan. Perhaps (as Boyd, ISBE, III, 1930, suggests) a childless uncle and a fatherless nephew would find a mutual bond. In Canaan, stops were made and altars erected to sacrifice to Yahweh at Shechem and Bethel before the wanderers finally settled in the Negev (Gen 11:27-32; 12:4-10; 13:1). By inference from Genesis 13:1 it seems evident that Lot accompanied Abram and Sarai when they went down into Egypt to escape the famine in Canaan. This is attested in later tradition and is mentioned in DSS Genesis Apocryphon xx. 11, 33, 34. After the return from Egypt, Abram and his entourage, including Lot, settled near Bethel.
2. As flocks and herds multiplied, strife arose between Lot’s herdsmen and Abram’s over grazing and watering places. In addition to the struggle, Abram and Lot were faced also with the problem of relationships with the Canaanites and Perizzites who still possessed the land (Gen 13:7b). At Abram’s suggestion, Lot was given the choice of whatever territory he wanted. He chose “the well-watered plain of Jordan,” which is usually interpreted to include the area around the place where the Jordan River enters the Dead Sea, extending twenty-five m. N of the Dead Sea. At this period, Lot was still a nomad (13:12) and wandered as far as Sodom. He chose an area where wickedness was rampant (13:13). In the choice Abram maintained the more spiritual outlook (13:14-18). There is archeological evidence that the Plain of Jordan was well populated as early as the second millennium, b.c. (Free, Archaeology and Bible History, p. 56).
3. This area near the Dead Sea became a target for a series of raids by four kings (chieftains?) of the E. In one of these raids Chedorlaomer conquered the king of Sodom and his four allies (Gen 14:1-16) at the valley of Siddim. Sodom and Gomorrah were plundered, and Lot was taken captive. When Abram heard of his nephew’s plight, he armed his retainers and pursued the invaders as far as Damascus, and in a surprise attack, rescued Lot and his goods.
4. Lot was not content to dwell on the plain of the Jordan, but gradually entered into the orbit of the chief city of the Dead Sea area, Sodom. Eventually, he moved into the city and there settled down. Because of the great wickedness in the city, Yahweh had determined to destroy it. Enroute to Sodom, three angels stopped to see Abraham and tell him of Yahweh’s intentions. Abraham prayed that the city might be spared, but not even ten righteous men were found in it, so it was doomed. Two of the angels proceeded to Sodom to warn Lot. In typical Oriental fashion Lot welcomed them into his home. Officially, Lot was merely a sojourner in the city, and when he attempted to protect his visitors from the sensual lusts of the Sodomites, he was accused of seeking to rule (Gen 19:9). To protect his guests, he was willing to give his daughters over to the foul desires of the Sodomites. The men of the city persisted and tried to take Lot’s visitors by force. The angels smote the men with blindness as they attempted a forced entry into Lot’s house. The angels warned Lot of the impending destruction of Sodom, and persuaded him to leave the city while there was still time. Lot had no influence with his prospective sons-in-law when he sought to persuade them to leave the city, and they perished (19:14). Even Lot was slow to leave until escorted from Sodom by the angels (19:15f.). His wife accompanied him, but when she looked back at the smoking city, she was turned into a pillar of salt (19:26; Luke 17:29). Evidently, Lot was attached to the comforts and culture of Sodom (Gen 19:16-22). Lot’s deliverance was credited to the fact that God remembered (i.e., had mercy on) Abraham. That Lot was saved by divine intervention is stated in Wisdom of Solomon 10:6-8; Luke 17:28, 29; 2 Peter 2:7, 8.
5. Lot’s final disgrace followed his leaving Sodom. At first, obtaining permission from the angels, he and his daughters stopped at Zoar, near the SE end of the Dead Sea. This city did not share the ill repute of the other four cities of the plain. Out of fear of further “fire and brimstone,” Lot left Zoar and lived in a cave in Moab with his daughters (Gen 19:30-38). His daughters despaired of finding husbands, so to carry on Lot’s line they devised a plan whereby they might become pregnant. On successive nights they made Lot drunk with wine, and each daughter, in turn, slept with him incestuously. From these unions Moab and Ben-ammi were born (Deut 2:9, 19; Ps 83:8), from whom the Moabites and Ammonites were supposedly descended. Some see in this unsavory story an etiological legend to explain the origin of these peoples. There is no reason, however, why the events may not have happened as recorded in Genesis. From the Moabites came the Biblical Ruth, the ancestress of David and Christ.
The seeming unwillingness of Lot’s daughters to intermarry with the inhabitants of Moab is contrary to what is attested in Genesis 36:20-30; 1 Samuel 22:3, 4, and Ruth. However, Israel’s feelings of superiority over other peoples are set forth in later prophets (Isa 15; 16; Jer 48; Amos 2:1-3; Zeph 2:8, 9).
Despite Lot’s failings, the NT calls him “a righteous man” (2 Pet 2:7f.).
Bibliography W. F. Albright, “The Historical Background of Genesis XIV,” JSOR (1926), 231-269; J. Penrose Harland, “The Destruction of the Cities of the Plain,” BA, VI (1943), 41-52 (reprinted in Biblical Archaeologist Reader [1961]), 59-75; N. Glueck, “The Age of Abraham in the Negev,” BA, XVIII (1955), 2-9; J. P. Free, Archaeology and Bible History (1956), 48-63; E. A. Speiser, Genesis (Anchor Bible) (1964).