Genesis 19:26

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Genesis 19:26

This also is written for our admonitio 4619 n. Our Saviour refers to it (Luke 17:32), Remember Lot's wife. As by the example of Sodom the wicked are warned to turn from their wickedness, so by the example of Lot's wife the righteous are warned not to turn from their righteousness. See Ezek. 3:18, 20. We have here, I. The sin of Lot's wife: She looked back from behind him. This seemed a small thing, but we are sure, by the punishment of it, that it was a great sin, and exceedingly sinful. 1.... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 19:26

But his wife looked back from behind him ,.... That is, the wife of Lot, whose name the Jewish writers F24 Pirke Eliezer, c. 25. say was Adith, or as others Irith F25 Baal Hatturim in loc. ; and, according to the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem, she was a native of Sodom: now, as they were going from Sodom to Zoar, she was behind Lot, his back was to her, so that he could not see her; this was a temptation to her to look back, since her husband could not see her; and this she... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 19:26

She became a pillar of salt - The vast variety of opinions, both ancient and modern, on the crime of Lot's wife, her change, and the manner in which that change was effected, are in many cases as unsatisfactory as they are ridiculous. On this point the sacred Scripture says little. God had commanded Lot and his family not to look behind them; the wife of Lot disobeyed this command; she looked back from behind him - Lot, her husband, and she became a pillar of salt. This is all the... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 19:26

Verse 26 26.But his wife looked back. Moses here records the wonderful judgment of God, by which the wife of Lot was transformed into a statue of salt. But under the pretext of this narrative, captious and perverse men ridicule Moses; for since this metamorphosis has no more appearance of truth, than those which Ovid has feigned, they boast that it is undeserving of credit. But I rather suppose it to have happened through the artifice of Satan, that Ovid, by fabulously trifling, has indirectly... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 19:26

But his wife looked back from behind him ,— i.e. went behind him and looked back; ἑπέβλεψεν ( LXX .), implying wistful regard; respiciens (Vulgate); an act expressly forbidden by the angel ( Genesis 19:17 )— and she became (literally, she was, conveying an idea of complete and instantaneous judgment) a pillar of salt . נְעִיב מֵלַח ; στήλη ἀλός ( LXX .); a statue or column of fossil salt, such as exists in the neighborhood of the Dead Sea. That she was literally... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 19:26

The danger of falling back. "But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt." Every part of this narrative suggestive of lessons. Reminded how "the righteous scarcely saved," and of the danger of an amiable weakness. In Lot's sons-in-law we see how the world receives the gospel (cf. Ezekiel 20:49 ; James 1:24 ). In his wife, one convinced, but not converted; seeking safety, but with a divided aim ( James 1:8 ). In the angel's help, God's watchful care, even... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Genesis 19:1-38

- The Destruction of Sodom and Amorah9. גשׁ־<הלאה gesh-hāl'âh, “approach to a distant point,” stand back.11. סנורים sanevērı̂ym, “blindness,” affecting the mental more than the ocular vision.37. מואב mô'āb, Moab; מאב mē'āb, “from a father.” בן־עמי ben-‛amı̂y, Ben-‘ammi, “son of my people.” עמון ‛amôn, ‘Ammon, “of the people.”This chapter is the continuation and conclusion of the former. It records a part of God’s strange work - strange, because it consists in punishment, and because... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Genesis 19:26

Genesis 19:26. But his wife looked back from behind him Herein she disobeyed an express command. Probably she hankered after her house and goods in Sodom, and was loath to leave them. Christ intimates this to be her sin, Luke 17:31-32; she too much regarded her stuff. And her looking back spoke an inclination to go back; and therefore our Saviour uses it as a warning against apostacy from our Christian profession. And she became a pillar of salt She was struck dead in the place, yet her... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Genesis 19:1-38

Sodom and Gomorrah (19:1-38)Meanwhile the two messengers arrived in Sodom. Lot, knowing the danger that strangers faced in the streets of Sodom at night, welcomed them into his house (19:1-3). Although Lot did not agree with the immoral practices of Sodom (2 Peter 2:7-8), he apparently did not have the courage to oppose them. He was even prepared to allow the sexual perverts of the city to rape his daughters, in order to protect his two guests from homosexual assault. In a blinding judgment,... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Genesis 19:26

wife. Compare Luke 17:32 . looked back: i.e. curiously. Compare Isaiah 63:5 and Genesis 19:28 . Same word as in Genesis 19:17 . became. Same word as Genesis 1:2 , "the earth became. " read more

Group of Brands