Lot (peace be upon him) was Abraham (peace be upon him)'s nephew. He settled near the cities of the plain, Sodom and Gomorrah, whose people were known for cruelty and wickedness. When angels came to him as guests, he tried to protect them from a violent crowd. God rescued Lot and his daughters before the cities were destroyed; his wife looked back and was lost. In the Qur'an Lot is a prophet who warned his people. In Genesis he is a righteous man saved for Abraham's sake.
Watch
Three traditions, three films
Each told by its own community, in its own words, side by side. More on F-ILM.
A Jewish telling
Covenant & Conversation | Vayera | Rabbi SacksThe Rabbi Sacks Legacy · 13 minRabbi Sacks on Vayera: Abraham bargains with God for Sodom; justice and mercy.
A Christian telling
Abraham and Lot (Genesis 12-13)Saddleback Kids · 2 min Shows prophets (a film-maker's portrayal)Kids option: Saddleback Kids, Abraham and Lot part ways (Genesis 12-13).
A Muslim telling
Prophet Lūṭ (AS) | Ustadha Kouthar Muttardy | Prophets of AllahADAMS Center - Official YouTube Channel · 5 minADAMS Center: Prophet Lut (spot-check tone before use).
Side by side
Three tellings
Quotations: Torah and Hebrew Bible, JPS 1917 · New Testament, World English Bible (British Edition) · Qur'an, Pickthall (1930). Translations and sources
THebrew Bible · Torah
In Jewish tradition's own words.
Lot travels with Abram and chooses the well-watered plain of the Jordan.
He is taken captive and rescued by Abram; Abraham pleads for Sodom.
Two angels come as guests; the men of the city surround the house.
The escape at dawn; his wife becomes a pillar of salt.
“And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the Plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot dwelt.”Genesis 19:29 · JPS 1917
In the midrash Sodom outlawed charity, and a girl was put to death for feeding a beggar (Sanhedrin 109b; Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer 25).
Ezekiel 16:49 names Sodom's sin as pride, plenty and failing “the poor and needy”.
Lot is a messenger who warns his people against indecency, highway robbery and wrongdoing in their gatherings.
Guests come; the people rush to the house.
He and his family are saved, “except his wife”.
A rain of stones falls on the cities.
“And unto Lot we gave judgment and knowledge, and We delivered him from the community that did abominations. Lo! they were folk of evil, lewd.”Qur'an 21:74 · Pickthall (1930)
“May God have mercy on Lot; he sought refuge with a strong support” (Bukhari 3375, paraphrased).
Islam affirms Lot's prophethood and the purity of his character.
And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the Plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot dwelt.
Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom: pride, fulness of bread, and careless ease was in her and in her daughters; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.
For I have known him, to the end that he may command his children and his household after him, that they may keep the way of the LORD, to do righteousness and justice; to the end that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which He hath spoken of him.’
Read the passages The Christian telling · 2
Luke 17:28–32 · New Testament · WEB British Edition
28
Likewise, even as it was in the days of Lot: they ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built;
29
but in the day that Lot went out from Sodom, it rained fire and sulphur from the sky and destroyed them all.
30
It will be the same way in the day that the Son of Man is revealed.
31
In that day, he who will be on the housetop and his goods in the house, let him not go down to take them away. Let him who is in the field likewise not turn back.
32
Remember Lot’s wife!
2 Peter 2:6–8 · New Testament · WEB British Edition
6
and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, having made them an example to those who would live in an ungodly way,
7
and delivered righteous Lot, who was very distressed by the lustful life of the wicked
8
(for that righteous man dwelling amongst them was tormented in his righteous soul from day to day with seeing and hearing lawless deeds),
And his people came unto him, running towards him - and before then they used to commit abominations - He said: O my people! Here are my daughters! They are purer for you. Beware of Allah, and degrade me not in (the person of) my guests. Is there not among you any upright man?
(The messengers) said: O Lot! Lo! we are messengers of thy Lord; they shall not reach thee. So travel with thy people in a part of the night, and let not one of you turn round - (all) save thy wife. Lo! that which smiteth them will smite her (also). Lo! their tryst is (for) the morning. Is not the morning nigh?
But the answer of his folk was naught save that they said: Expel the household of Lot from your township, for they (forsooth) are folk who would keep clean!
And We bestowed on him Isaac and Jacob, and We established the prophethood and the Scripture among his seed, and We gave him his reward in the world, and lo! in the Hereafter he verily is among the righteous.
For come ye not in unto males, and cut ye not the road (for travellers), and commit ye not abomination in your meetings? But the answer of his folk was only that they said: Bring Allah's doom upon us if thou art a truthteller!
And when Our messengers brought Abraham the good news, they said: Lo! we are about to destroy the people of that township, for its people are wrong-doers.
He said: Lo! Lot is there. They said: We are best aware of who is there. We are to deliver him and his household, all save his wife, who is of those who stay behind.
And when Our messengers came unto Lot, he was troubled upon their account, for he could not protect them; but they said: Fear not, nor grieve! Lo! we are to deliver thee and thy household, (all) save thy wife, who is of those who stay behind.
Allah citeth an example for those who disbelieve: the wife of Noah and the wife of Lot, who were under two of Our righteous slaves yet betrayed them so that they (the husbands) availed them naught against Allah and it was said (unto them): Enter the Fire along with those who enter.
Common ground
Where they agree
Abraham (peace be upon him)'s nephew.
A corrupt city, guests who are angels, and a violent crowd.
Lot is rescued and the cities are destroyed.
His wife is lost.
Said plainly, ranked never
Where they differ
In Islam he is a prophet and messenger of blameless character; Genesis portrays him in a more mixed light.
The traditions, and readers within each, describe the cities' sin in different ways; Ezekiel 16:49 stresses pride and neglect of the poor.
Genesis follows him and his daughters into the hills; the Qur'an does not tell that episode, and Muslim scholars reject it.
Era and place
The world of Lot
Where
The Dead Sea basin, between Jordan and Israel. A Byzantine church at Deir 'Ain 'Abata in Jordan marks “Lot's cave”.
When
Early in the 2nd millennium BCE, with Abraham (peace be upon him).
What archaeology can and cannot say
Bab edh-Dhra and Numeira, Early Bronze Age towns destroyed by about 2350 BCE, were once proposed as Sodom and Gomorrah; Tall el-Hammam has been proposed more recently. No site is securely identified.
The rabbis remember Sodom above all for cruelty to strangers and the poor (Sanhedrin 109). They portray Lot as mixed: hospitable, but drawn to the wealth of the plain.
Christian tradition
Jesus uses Lot's days as a warning to be ready (Luke 17). 2 Peter holds Lot up as a righteous man rescued from a wicked city.
Tafsir and hadith
Ibn Kathir, on 11:77, describes Lot's distress at his guests' danger and the angels' reassurance. The hadith of “a strong support” (Bukhari 3375) is read as praise of his trust in God.
Reference works: Encyclopaedia Judaica (2nd ed.); The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church; Encyclopaedia of Islam (3rd ed.); Ibn Kathir, Qisas al-Anbiya.