Parashah Art

Tanakh

וַתַּבֵּ֥ט אִשְׁתּ֖וֹ מֵאַחֲרָ֑יו וַתְּהִ֖י נְצִ֥יב מֶֽלַח׃ 

"But his wife gazed behind him, and she became a pillar of salt." — Vayera, Bereshit, 19:26; 1995 Schocken Bible Everett Fox translation

Talmud, Midrash, and Commentary

ותבט אשתו מאחריו. פי' ר' אברהם מאחריו של לוט. פירש"י מאחרי ציוויו של מלאך. ובפרקי ר"א אמרו להם אל תביטו אחריכם כי ירדה שכינה להפיל על סדום ועמורה גפרית ואש עיסית (עדית) אשתו של לוט נכמרו רחמיה על בנותיה הנשואות בסדום והביטה אחריה וראתה אחרי' השכינה ונעשית נציב מלח. ונוכל לפרש מאחריו של שכינה:  

"According to Ibn Ezra, the suffix in the word מאחריו refers to Lot. Rashi claims that the suffix refers to her having ignored the angel’s command. In Pirkey de Rabbi Eliezer it is said that the angels said to both Lot, his wife and daughters, not to look behind, as the Presence of the Lord raining sulphur and fire on the Sodomites was descending on earth immediately behind them. Lot’s wife Iddit, who was concerned about the fate of her married daughters, ignored the instructions, and, as a result, was turned into a pillar of salt. According to this version, the masculine suffix in the word מאחריו would refer to the שכינה, the manifestation of G’d’s presence." — Tur HaArokh Genesis 19:26; Eliyahu Munk translation

ותבט אשתו מאחריו. אחר שאמר לה המלאך אל תביט אחריך היתה נפשה הומה על בנותיה הנשארות בסדום: 

ותהי נציב מלח.  לפי שחטאה במלח, כיצד שבאותה הלילה שבאו המלאכים לביתו של לוט, הלכה היא אצל שכניה בעלילה לשאול מלח, אמרו לה שכניה ולמה את צריכה מלח, וכי אין יודעת שהיית חסה מלח לילך ליקח מלח מבעוד יום, אמרה להם אין אנו צריכין מלח, אלא שבאו לנו אורחים, ולכך ידעו אנשי סדום במלאכים שבאו בביתו של לוט: 

"'And his wife looked behind him' - After the angel said, 'Do not look behind you' - Her soul was stirred regarding her daughters that remained in Sodom 

And she became a piller of salt' - Due to her having sinner with salt. How? In that on that night on which the angels came to Lot's house, she went to her neighbors' places with pretext to ask for salt. Her neighbors said to her, "And why do you need salt? Didn't you know that you were short on salt to got and take salt while it was still daytime?" She said to them, "We didn't need salt until guests came to us." And therefore, the people of Sodom knew about the angel that came to Lot's house" — Midrash Aggadah 19:26:1-2; Sefaria Community Translation

Date Finished:

May 11, 2025

Description:

Happy Mother's Day everyone! I wanted to draw two mothers: one for The Shaul Chronicles and a lesser known mother in Torah.

As far as the character for Lot's wife, who the rabbis named Idit, Edith, or Adot, it varies depending on interpretation. Some rabbis saw Lot's wife becoming a pillar of salt because she sinned with salt: she disapproved of Lot hosting guests in her home and set the mob on the house through asking her neighbors for salt. In this version, she turned back because she was just as bad as the rest of Sodom. Others see Lot's wife more sympathetically: she turned back because she worried about her two married daughters, her sons, and her sons-in-law who remained in the city, and she turned into salt because she saw Hashem. For this art piece, I sought to capture the more sympathetic interpretation. In any case, natural pillars of salt near the location that resembled a woman seem to have inspired the story.