(32) Remember Lot's wife.--The reference to this, as to the history of Lot generally, is peculiar to St. Luke, and speaks strongly for the independence of his Gospel. The account of Lot's wife had, however, already been used, or was used shortly afterwards (the date of the Wisdom of Solomon being an unsettled problem), to point a like moral, and the "standing pillar of salt" had become "a monument of an unbelieving soul" (Wisdom Of Solomon 10:7). She had looked back, as the disciples were told not to look, and the glance had been fatal (Genesis 19:26).
17:20-37 The kingdom of God was among the Jews, or rather within some of them. It was a spiritual kingdom, set up in the heart by the power of Divine grace. Observe how it had been with sinners formerly, and in what state the judgments of God, which they had been warned of, found them. Here is shown what a dreadful surprise this destruction will be to the secure and sensual. Thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed. When Christ came to destroy the Jewish nation by the Roman armies, that nation was found in such a state of false security as is here spoken of. In like manner, when Jesus Christ shall come to judge the world, sinners will be found altogether regardless; for in like manner the sinners of every age go on securely in their evil ways, and remember not their latter end. But wherever the wicked are, who are marked for eternal ruin, they shall be found by the judgments of God.
Remember Lot's wife. Whose name by the Jews, is said to be Adith, as some (s); or Irith, as others (t): and who, they also say, was a native of Sodom; and that the reason of her looking, was either to see what would be the end of her father's house and family (u); or as others (w), because her heart yearned after her daughters, and she looked back to see if they followed her; upon which she became a pillar of salt, Genesis 19:26 They say (x), that her bones were burnt with the brimstone, and along with which was salt, into which she was turned, according to Deuteronomy 29:23. They often speak of , "salt of Sodom" (y); where the gloss says, it is thick and hard, as a stone; and to which they sometimes (z) ascribe this virtue, that it blinds the eyes: and there is a sort of salt, which they call (a) Galilaean salt, of like hardness; and Pliny (b) speaks of salt in the Indies, which they cut out, as stones out of quarries; and that, at Carthis, a town in Arabia, is salt with which they build houses and walls: of a very durable nature it is certain, was this pillar of "salt", Lot's wife became; for Josephus reports (c), that he saw this pillar of salt in his time; and Irenaeus asserts (d), that it was in being when he lived; and modern writers, as Burchardus and Adrichomius, speak of it as still existing; and the Jerusalem "paraphrast" on Genesis 19:26 says it shall endure till the time the resurrection comes, in which the dead shall live: the reason of her becoming a pillar of salt, the Jews say, is, that she sinned by salt, and so was punished by salt; and which is differently related, and in a very fanciful way: one writer (f) reports, that when the angels came, Lot said to her, give me a little salt for these travellers; she replied to him, truly this is a bad custom, which thou bringest to be used in this place; and elsewhere (g) it is said, that upon their coming, she went to all her neighbours, and said to them, give me some salt, for we have travellers; but her intention was, that the men of the city might know them: but leaving those things, our Lord's design in these words, is to instruct his followers by this instance, not to look back in their flight, or to turn back to their houses, to save their goods, when the desolation of Jerusalem was coming on, lest they should suffer in it; and to warn all professors of religion, in all ages, against looking back to things that are behind, or turning their backs on him, in a time of distress and persecution; since such are not fit for the kingdom of God; and in these God has no delight and pleasure.
(s) Pirke Eliezer, c. 25. (t) Baal Hatturim in Genesis 19.26. (u) Targum Jon. & Hieros. in ib. (w) Pirke Eliezer ib. (x) Aben Ezra in Genesis 19.26. (y) T. Bab. Bava Bathra, fol. 20. 2. & Menachot, fol. 21. 1.((z) Bartenora in Misna Erubin, c. 1. sect. 10. (a) T. Bab Kiddushin, fol. 62. 1.((b) Nat. Hist. l. 31. c. 7. (c) Antiqu. l. 1. c. 12. (d) Adv. Haeres. l. 4. c. 51. (f) Jarchi in Genesis 19.26. (g) Bereshit Rabba, sect. 51. fol. 46. 1.
(s) Pirke Eliezer, c. 25. (t) Baal Hatturim in Genesis 19.26. (u) Targum Jon. & Hieros. in ib. (w) Pirke Eliezer ib. (x) Aben Ezra in Genesis 19.26. (y) T. Bab. Bava Bathra, fol. 20. 2. & Menachot, fol. 21. 1.((z) Bartenora in Misna Erubin, c. 1. sect. 10. (a) T. Bab Kiddushin, fol. 62. 1.((b) Nat. Hist. l. 31. c. 7. (c) Antiqu. l. 1. c. 12. (d) Adv. Haeres. l. 4. c. 51. (f) Jarchi in Genesis 19.26. (g) Bereshit Rabba, sect. 51. fol. 46. 1.