Nephew of Abraham, resident of Sodom
c. 2100 BC · Old Testament
Abraham's nephew, who chose the well-watered plain of Jordan and ended up in Sodom — rescued by angels just before God destroyed the city for its wickedness.
Lot was the son of Haran, Abraham's brother. When Haran died, Abraham took Lot with him from Ur into Canaan (Genesis 12). When their flocks became too large to share the same land, Lot chose the well-watered plain of Jordan — pitching his tent toward Sodom (Genesis 13:10-12). 'But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly' (Genesis 13:13). Lot was captured when invading kings raided Sodom; Abraham rescued him with 318 trained servants (Genesis 14). Lot returned to Sodom. Years later, three visitors came to Abraham — the LORD and two angels — to announce Isaac's birth and Sodom's coming destruction. Abraham interceded for any righteous people who might be in Sodom (Genesis 18). The two angels went to Sodom and were met by Lot at the gate. Lot insisted they stay at his house. The men of Sodom surrounded the house demanding sexual access to the visitors — confirming the city's wickedness. The angels struck them with blindness and warned Lot: leave the city; God will destroy it. Lot warned his sons-in-law, who mocked him. The angels physically dragged Lot, his wife, and his daughters out as dawn broke (Genesis 19:16). 'Look not behind thee... lest thou be consumed.' Brimstone and fire fell on Sodom and Gomorrah. Lot's wife looked back and became a pillar of salt (Genesis 19:26). Lot escaped to a small town (Zoar) and then to a cave with his two daughters. There, his daughters got him drunk and conceived by him — bearing Moab and Ben-ammi (Ammon), ancestors of nations that would later trouble Israel (Genesis 19:30-38). The New Testament identifies Lot as 'just' (2 Peter 2:7-8) — vexed by the lawlessness around him. His life is a warning: don't drift toward wickedness; don't lose your family to it.
Travels into Canaan
Pitched toward Sodom
318 servants pursue raiders
Last righteous influence
Family does not believe him
God's mercy
Looked back
Cave incident
Lot's significance: (1) He is a cautionary figure — choosing well-watered land that led him toward Sodom. (2) His rescue shows God's mercy to the righteous even in cities under judgment (echoing Abraham's intercession). (3) 2 Peter 2:7-8 calls him 'just' and 'righteous' — a believer who chose poorly but was still God's. (4) His wife's pillar of salt is a warning against looking back to the world Christ has saved you from (Luke 17:32 — 'Remember Lot's wife'). (5) Moab and Ammon, his descendants, would later trouble Israel — but Ruth the Moabitess entered Christ's line (Ruth 4).
“Behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one.”— Genesis 19:20
Lot was Abraham's nephew, who traveled with him from Ur into Canaan. When their flocks needed separating, Lot chose the well-watered Jordan plain and settled in Sodom (Genesis 13). God rescued him through angels before destroying Sodom for its wickedness (Genesis 19). Lot survived, but his wife became a pillar of salt for looking back. 2 Peter 2:7-8 calls him 'just' and 'righteous.'
For its wickedness — described in Genesis 18-19, summarized in Ezekiel 16:49-50 ('pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness... haughty, and committed abomination') and Jude 1:7 (sexual immorality). The attempted gang rape of the angels at Lot's door (Genesis 19:5) confirms the city's depravity. Sodom became biblical shorthand for the kind of wickedness that invites divine judgment.
Genesis 19:26 — 'But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.' The angels had specifically warned them not to look back (Genesis 19:17). Her glance is usually understood as more than curiosity — a longing for the life she was leaving. Jesus invoked her as a warning: 'Remember Lot's wife' (Luke 17:32) — about lingering attachment to what God has called us to leave.
2 Peter 2:7-8 calls Lot 'just' and 'righteous,' noting he was 'vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked' and his soul was 'vexed... with their unlawful deeds.' This may surprise readers — Lot seems compromised — but the NT affirms he was a believer. Luke 17:32 invokes his wife as warning. 2 Peter 2:6-9 uses Sodom's destruction as warning of judgment and example of God's deliverance of his people.