Mimi of Triplets
9 Answers
Headless Man
Best answer!
The clue to how this happened seems to lie in the words “his wife looked back from behind him”.
The phrase indicates that Lot's wife was behind him, and has the meaning of “lagging behind with longing.” She was not only some distance behind the others, but as she looked at the cities being destroyed, she longed for her old life there. Her body had moved out of Sodom, but her heart was still back there.
The angel had told them “look not behind thee … lest thou be consumed” (Genesis 19:17). Lot's wife simply ignored the warning and received the penalty the angel had warned her about. She was then “consumed”.
Was the effect immediate?
That Lot's wife was consumed (destroyed, overpowered) immediately is clear. The ashes and fiery debris raining down on anyone close enough to the perishing cities would have destroyed them. But whether loads of salt from the area covered her immediately, or it accumulated over time, is not so clear.
There are massive deposits of rock salt in that area (see photo at bottom of a salt pillar at the Dead Sea), and these could have buried her in a downpour of salt deposits. Or she could have been killed by being covered in volcanic ash only to have the salt cover her body over time.
That Lot's wife turning into a pillar of salt is a historical truth is confirmed by Jesus' words in Luke 17:32 — “Remember Lot's wife.” This gives the account unquestionable authenticity.
| 12 years ago. Rating: 1 | |
Your logic equates to Abraham Lincoln saying "remember Sleepy Hollow", thus giving the legend of Sleepy Hollow and the headless horseman unquestionable authenticity. Please.
If that doesn't make sense, try this: a book referencing itself does not give it unquestionable authenticity. If that was true, it would mean any written work, like the Lord of the Rings, which references its own "history" all the time, has unquestionable authenticity.
Try extending your logic to other situations before making ridiculous claims.
lindilou
Lot's Wife
In the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, the bible says that Lot's wife was turned into a pillar of salt. Thanks to Zecharia Sitchin, I've learned that this is very likely a mistranslation, though a very understandable mistake, as you'll see. What might actually have happened to her is far more interesting. First, here's the relevant passage.
Genesis 19:24-26 Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven; 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. But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.
The Hebrew word translated as salt in this passage is melach, which does indeed mean salt. However, the root of melach is malach, which means to vanish away, or dissipate, as salt does when mixed into water. Given that Hebrew writing omits vowels, it's easy to see why malach may have been mistranslated as melach. Here's a verse from Isaiah wherein malach (vanish away) is used.
Isaiah 51:6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish away (malach) like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner: but my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished.
While credit goes to Zecharia Sitchen for pointing out the melach/malach confusion, Zecharia didn't address the other word, pillar. But I have a theory about that. Recall the pillar of cloud/fire, which led the Israelites through the wilderness. What this term might be describing is a column of light which came down from heaven, perhaps much like this actual photo of a mysterious beam of light, which is but one of many contemporary examples wherein people have witnessed a beam of light being emitted from a UFO. Now returning to the story, we can theorize with some confidence that what might actually have happened to Lot's wife is that she became enveloped in a column of light (pillar) from above, and vanished away. One can't help but be reminded of Star Trek's transporter beam.
And it wouldn't be the first time such a thing happened in the bible. In the following passage, an unknown man who turns out to be an angel appears to Manoah and his wife, instructing them on how to raise their child. When he's ready to leave, a beam of light comes down to consume the sacrifice and the man steps into it and rises up to heaven!
Judges 13:20
17 And Manoah said unto the angel of the LORD, What is thy name, that when thy sayings come to pass we may do thee honour? And the angel of the LORD said unto him, Why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is secret? So Manoah took a kid with a meat offering, and offered it upon a rock unto the LORD: and the angel did wondrously; and Manoah and his wife looked on. For it came to pass, when the flame went up toward heaven from off the altar, that the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar. And Manoah and his wife looked on it, and fell on their faces to the ground.
And with that, another amazing (and emerging) truth comes to light. For an in-depth discussion of this topic see also Steven Cheairs' excellent article, Lot's Wife. In that article he points out some of Jesus's words which lend additional weight to the theory that this was indeed a mistranslation, and that Jesus knew the actual meaning.
Also interesting is that the Hebrew word for angels is malachim. It would seem to me, therefore, that they were named after their ability to vanish into thin air.
>>>http://www.emergingtruths.com/lots_wife/lots_wife.html
| 12 years ago. Rating: 8 | |
daren1
Yes i believe it was SEE salt...if memory serves correct !!
| 12 years ago. Rating: 7 | |
jhharlan
I would suppose she could be seen, salt has a hue..................
| 12 years ago. Rating: 6 | |
Dardaigh
bowlesy
Mimi of Triplets
The verse from Luke is the reason I chose Lot's wife to speak on. Your picture of the salt pillars at the Dead Sea didn't post but I have seen them online. Thank you for your comments and your time. I only posted this question because I had listened to a sermon on Lot's wife online and the pastor said people have told him that you could look through the salt and see her. I didn't want to repeat something that iI haven't seen and I don't know factually is true. The clarity of the salt is not the reason I picked Lot's wife to speak on. If I share something not true I feel it will leave the door open to doubt the truth that I will be sharing. The validity of the event I never doubted for the same reasons you gave. I felt if Jesus thought it was important enough to mention it is important enough to share with the women in my church.
| 12 years ago. Rating: 3 | |
eggplant
bigben
>http://www.creationtips.com/lots_wife.html