Aramaic idiom: Lot’s wife: a pillar of salt

 

Aramaic idiom: Lot’s wife: a pillar of salt

1. The story of Lot’s wife is found in Genesis 19:24-26

Gen 19:24  Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven; 

Gen 19:25  And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground. 

Gen 19:26  But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt. 

2. This story of Lot’s wife is on many people’s minds because it was also mentioned by Jesus in the New Testament in Luke 17:32, unlike some obscure figure in the Old Testament that is only mentioned once.

3. According to Aramaic scholars, the term “to become a pillar of salt” is an Aramaic idiom that means “to die from shock”, “to be paralyzed until dead”.

4. Further reading on this can be referred to: George M. Lamsa, Old Testament Light: A Scriptural Commentary Based on the Aramaic of the Ancient Peshitta Text, p. 56

5. When I was younger I was very intrigued by how a human being of flesh and blood can be turned into salt (sodium chloride?). Of course, we always explained it as that God can do anything, and whatever He wants. He can turn a human being into an ant also, like what you see in those movies. Maybe we had been too influenced by myths and fantasy.

6. Now, after understanding Near Eastern idioms (or metaphors), then I realized that this term “to become a pillar of salt” actually means “to die”.

7. Just like in English you have so many idioms on “to die” or “death” like:

• Kick the bucket
• Six feet underground
• Your number is up
• Meet your Maker
• Give up the ghost
• Go to the big place in the sky
• Breath his last

Has a Christian ever done an expository study on “to kick the bucket”, and “how to kick”, “which leg do you use to kick”, “do you wear a shoe to kick”, “how far or hard do you kick”, “was it a wooden bucket or a steel bucket”, “how big was the bucket”, “what was inside the bucket”..?

NO, of course not. We in the English speaking community recognizes and understands that the term “to kick the bucket” means “to die”. We understand that it is an English idiom / metaphor.

So likewise, there are Aramaic idioms as well.

Question 1: Why do Christians not understand that “to become a pillar of salt” is an Aramaic idiom meaning “to die from shock”? And an idiom is not to be taken literally.

Question 2: Why do Christians look for salt formation around the ancient city of Sodom, and think that is Lot’s wife? Silly isn’t it? (Chemically speaking, IF Lot’s wife is salt, wouldn’t the salt had been melted / washed away after thousands of years?)

Question 3: Did God turned Lot's wife into a "pillar of salt"? Did God killed her, as it were? No. The bible story did NOT say that God did this to her. The reason Lot's wife died was because she could not take in what she saw. Her other relatives were still in the city, and she was shocked at the incident happening to them and the city. So, preachers, please do not present a wrong narrative of God's character, slandering God's character into bad reputation, and say that God killed her (this narrative was drummed into my mind for decades).

8. Anyway, for your casual reading pleasure, archaeologists actually found a part of a hill near Mount Sodom consisting of rock salt. There was a protruding rock formation, weathered down by winds and rains through the thousands of years and the fraternity calls it “Lot’s wife”.

See: https://epod.usra.edu/blog/2015/04/lots-wife.html

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I did another post on "remember Lot's wife", with regards to the End Times, and you can read it here:

https://advancingtruth.blogspot.com/2021/04/remember-lots-wife-luke-1732.html

Bonus reading: Nabal and his wife (Aramaic idioms)

In 1 Samuel 25, we read of a rich man called Nabal and his wife Abigail. David was passing by, and asked for food for his men, but Nabal refused. Nabal's men told him that David's men actually protected them night and day when they were together in the fields, so it's alright to return a favor of providing sustenance to them. When David heard about the arrogance of Nabal, he prepared to attack him and his household. Abigail heard about the imminent attack, and went ahead to meet David with food and gifts  to try and apologize on behalf of Nabal. David accepted her apology, and averted the attack on Nabal. The next day when Abigail told her husband Nabal on what she did, Nabal's "heart died within him" meaning "his heart suffered a stroke", and "he became a stone" meaning "he became paralyzed and motionless". Subsequently, Nabal died.

updated: 10 August 2021