Lesson of Lot’s Wife

Lot's wife serves as a warning that overattachment to possessions can come at the cost of one's life.

(Matt. 24:17-18; Mark 13:15-16; Luke 17:31-32)

(Huck 184, 216; Aland 235, 290; Crook 286, 328)^[1]

בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא מִי שֶׁעַל הַגָּג וּנְכָסָיו בַּבַּיִת לֹא יֵרֵד לִיטּוֹל אוֹתָם וּמִי שֶׁבַּשָּׂדֶה אַל יַבִּיט אַחֲרָיו זִכְרוּ אֶת אֵשֶׁת לוֹט

“On the day calamity strikes, a person on the roof whose belongings are inside should not go down to get them. Neither should a person outdoors look back—remember what happened to Lot’s wife!^[2]

Table of Contents

1. Reconstruction

2. Story Placement

3. Conjectured Stages of Transmission

4. Crucial Issues

5. Comment

6. Redaction Analysis

7. Results of This Research

8. Conclusion

Reconstruction

To view the reconstructed text of Lesson of Lot’s Wife click on the link below:

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Conclusion

In Lesson of Lot’s Wife, Jesus warned his contemporaries that when the clash with the Roman Empire finally takes place, worrying about their possessions could come at the cost of their lives.

Click here to return to The Life of Yeshua: A Suggested Reconstruction main page. _______________________________________________________

Mineral outcropping near the Dead Sea traditionally identified as the pillar of salt into which Lot’s wife was transformed. Photographed by Wilson44691. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

^[1] For abbreviations and bibliographical references, see “Introduction to ‘The Life of Yeshua: A Suggested Reconstruction.’” ↩
^[2] This translation is a dynamic rendition of our reconstruction of the conjectured Hebrew source that stands behind the Greek of the Synoptic Gospels. It is not a translation of the Greek text of a canonical source. ↩