Abraham's Intercession for Lot

Alice C. Linsley


Is the account of Abraham's intercession for Lot and Sodom simply about intercessory prayer? It is often supposed that Lot was among the wicked, having become involved in the politics of the city, but Abraham did not think so. He said, "Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?" Lot, as with many people of Faith, was living in the midst of moral decadence and paying the consequences.

Lot was Abraham's nephew, the son of his older brother Harran. Lot was a righteous man to whom Abraham deferred, as was fitting for a kinsman who had taken a younger fatherless kinsman under his protection. Lot's choice to move his flocks to the plain was motivated by his desire for greener pastures, but it would have been regarded as breaking with the pattern of his Horite ancestors who inhabited the higher terrain, called the "hill country."

Along with the other residents of Sodom, Lot apparently was unaware for the imminent danger. The destruction of his city and his future sons-in-law follow the angelic announcement of the "blessed event" that was to come to Abraham and Sarah within the year. Having feasted with Abraham and delivered this announcement, the angels turn toward Sodom saying: "We are to go over and check out Sodom to see if all that we have heard is true."

Angelic beings visited with Abraham in the heat of the day. This image signals divine judgment. Consider the contrast between this and the communion in the Garden where God came in the "cool of the day" (Gen.3:8). Cool encounters speak of fellowship and hot encounters speak of divine wrath, not a popular concept these days.

The angelic announcement foreshadows Jesus' birth. The shepherds would have known the story of the angels coming to Abraham and their announcement of the birth of a son. The angelic beings appeared in the "heat of the day" this visit being a hot encounter with God because the angels were on their way to a city under divine judgment. The chiastic structure of the Sodom narrative places the destruction of Sodom between the promise of a son for Abraham and the birth of two sons to Lot. The theme of the birth of God's Son can be found even in the story of Sodom's destruction.

Abraham was interceding for his kinsman. God shared His plans with Abraham: "The sins of Sodom have come up to my nostrils and I am going to see if everything I have heard is true. If it is, I am going to destroy the city! (Gen. 18:16-33)

Why did God not inform Lot directly about His plans? The answer is not that Lot was far from the Lord, living in disobedience, as is often stated in commentaries on this passage. The text does not tell us all the details of Lot's life because the focus has shifted from Abraham's Horite ancestors to Abraham himself. He is the great patriarch who had been Lot's protector, patron and who delivered him when he was taken captive (Gen. 14). The rescue took Abraham from Hebron, where Sarah resided, to Dan, the lion's whelp (Deut. 33:22).

Lot's Story

“Then he said, “Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak but once more: Suppose ten should be found there?” And He said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of ten.” So the Lord went His way as soon as He had finished speaking with Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place.” (Gen. 18:32-33)

Reading this, some suppose that there were not even ten righteous in the city. We do not know about the survivors of the destruction of the cities of the Plain. Clearly, Lot survived and he became established as a great chief with familial connections to other powerful rulers.

Lot's sister married Nahor and gave birth to eight sons (Gen. 22:20). The most notable of Milcah's sons was Kemuel, the father of Aram the Younger. Aram the Elder was one of Shem's sons (Gen. 10:22) and he had a son named Uz. The name Kemuel is found in Numbers 34:24 where a descendent of Kemuel is named as a leader for the Ephraimites. I Chronicles 27:17 tells us that the Ephraimite Kemuel had a son named Hashabiah who was a Levite chief. In I Chronicles 26:30, this same Hashabiah is called a "Hebronite" and is put "in charge of Israel west of Jordan in everything pertaining to Yahweh and to the service of the king."

Lot's Ammonite and Moabite descendants were relatives of the Arameans and at least one of them was a Levite. In Patriarchal times the rulers among these peoples would have intermarried. In his commentary on Genesis, E.A. Speiser recognizes this. He believes that the “parallel treatment of the histories of Abraham and Lot is added proof that interrelationship was particularly intimate and important in early times.” (Anchor Bible Commentary, p. 146)

Likely, the original meaning of the names pertains to the Horite practice of clan endogamy. Moab means "by father" and Ben-Ammi means "son of kin" - and the people of Israel were to treat them as such. "And the Lord said unto me, Distress not the Moabites, neither contend with them in battle: for I will not give thee of their land for a possession; because I have given Ar unto the children of Lot for a possession" (Deut. 2:9). "And when thou comest nigh over against the children of Ammon, distress them not, nor meddle with them: for I will not give thee of the land of the children of Ammon any possession; because I have given it unto the children of Lot for a possession." (Deut. 2:19).

Whether Moab and Ben-Ammi were Lot’s first-born sons by two wives or his grandchildren, he is presented in Genesis as a great chief with the same familial pattern as Terah, Abraham and Jacob. The pattern involves two first-born sons by different women. The first wife is the half-sister (as was Sarah to Abraham) and the second wife is a patrilineal cousin or niece (as was Keturah to Abraham). Keturah resided in Beersheba.

Related reading: Lot's Daughters; Two Passovers and Two Drunken Fathers; A Cautionary Note About Collins' Sodom; Abraham's Habiru Ancestors; Abraham and Job: Horite Rulers

Lot's Daughters

Righteous Lot flees Sodom with his family
Painter: Jacob Jordaens

[God] rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)— if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials..." 2 Peter: 2:7-9

Alice C. Linsley

According to the Rabbis, Lot had four daughters, two of whom were married and two betrothed. The married daughters are said to have died in Sodom, but the Bible indicates that one of Lot’s daughters married Seir, the Horite Hebrew chief.

The two who were said to have sexual relations with Lot were apparently “virgin” daughters, those who were betrothed. The sons of these daughters are the tribal heads of the Moabites and the Ammonites, but the Genesis genealogical information indicates that there was at least one other daughter who named her first-born son after her father, according to the cousin-bride’s naming prerogative.

Lot לוֹט means veil, hidden or covering. It is the same name as Lotan, son of the Horite chief Seir (Gen. 36). One of Lot's daughters apparently married Seir the Horite (Gen. 36) and named their first-born Lotan, after her father. Hori was one of Lotan's sons.

The story of incest between Lot and his daughters is found only in Genesis and appears to be the work of a source much later than the Patriarchs. The casting of the Moabites and the Ammonites as the fruit of incest is intended to scorn these peoples. The great chief Lot becomes drunk and exposes himself to his daughters. This story is the work of the same writer who tells of Noah becoming drunk and exposing himself to his sons (Gen. 9:21-27). These stories of drunken fathers are used to belittle rivals by denigrating their ancestors. It is often the case that where this happens in Scripture, God overrules. This is true in the case of Lot’s descendants, the Ammonites and the Moabites. According to Deuteronomy 23:3, no descendent of an Ammonite or a Moabite was permitted to participate "in the gathering of the nation for religious purposes” yet David appeared in the assembly and he is a descendant of Moab by Ruth. (Remember that Horite ethnicity was traced through the mothers.)

The source that wishes to distance Israel from their Horite ancestors is opposed by a more historically accurate source which reminds the Jews that God gave territory to Lot and intended that Lot's territory remain with his descendants. In Deuteronomy 2:9, we read "And the LORD said unto me, Distress not the Moabites, neither contend with them in battle: for I will not give thee of their land for a possession; because I have given Ar unto the children of Lot for a possession." In Deuteronomy 2:19 we read: "And when thou comest nigh over against the children of Ammon, distress them not, nor meddle with them: for I will not give thee of the land of the children of Ammon any possession; because I have given it unto the children of Lot for a possession."

Genesis 22:20 tells us that Lot's sister married Nahor and gave birth to eight sons. The most notable of Milcah's sons was Kemuel, the father of Aram the Younger. Aram the Elder was one of Shem's sons (Gen. 10:22) and he had a son named Uz. The name Kemuel is found in Numbers 34:24 where a descendent of Kemuel is named as a leader for the Ephraimites. I Chronicles 27:17 tells us that the Ephraimite Kemuel had a son named Hashabiah who was a Levite chief. In I Chronicles 26:30, this same Hashabiah is called a "Hebronite" and is put "in charge of Israel west of Jordan in everything pertaining to Yahweh and to the service of the king."

Clearly, Lot's Ammonite and Moabite descendants were relatives of the Arameans and at least one of them was a Levite. In Patriarchal times the rulers among these peoples would have intermarried. In his commentary on Genesis, E.A. Speiser recognizes this. He believes that the “parallel treatment of the histories of Abraham and Lot is added proof that interrelationship was particularly intimate and important in early times.” (Anchor Bible Commentary, p. 146)  The intermarriage of the Horite clans is probaby the original meaning of the names; Moab means "by father" and Ben-Ammi means "son of kin".

Whether Moab and Ben-Ammi were Lot’s first-born sons by two wives or his grandchildren, he is presented in Genesis as a great chief with the same familial pattern as Terah, Abraham and Jacob. The pattern involves two first-born sons by different women. The first wife is the half-sister (as was Sarah to Abraham) and the second wife is a patrilineal cousin or niece (as was Keturah to Abraham).

A patrilineal cousin is a first cousin who is in the same descent group as her husband. In other words, she and her cousin husband have a common male ancestor. This was the preferred marriage arrangement for rulers among Abraham's Horite people whose religion was Nilotic and point of origin Egypt/Nubia. The name Lot is found in Egyptian records, as in the ruler Nim-Lot.


Related reading: Cousin Brides and their Ruler Sons; Abraham's Nephews and Nieces; Moses' Wives and Brothers; The Horite Federation of Uz, Buz and Huz; Abraham's Intercession for Lot; Sodom's Death and the Birth of Sons

Lot's Story

Alice C. Linsley

In Segment 1, we see that Abraham and Na'Hor are brothers and have the same mother. Abraham married his half-sister (Gen. 20:12). Her brother was Haran, named for his maternal grandfather, according to the cousin-bride's naming prerogative, a distinctive feature of the Hebrew marriage and ascendancy pattern.

In Segment 2, we see that Abraham also had two wives. Sarah was his half-sister (principal wife) and Keturah was his patrlineal cousin bride. Keturah named their first-born son Joktan after her father.

Lot's story begins when he leaves Haran with his uncle Abraham and aunt Sarah. Genesis 12:5 tells us that, "Abram took his wife, Sarai, and Lot, his brother's son, and all their wealth that they had amassed, and the souls they had made in Haran, and they left to go to the land of Canaan."

This departure was precipitated by the fact that Abraham's older brother, Nahor, had inherited the territory of their father, Terah. This was the ascendancy pattern of the Horite Hebrew (Habiru) ruler-priest caste to which Abraham belonged. The firstborn son of the sister-wife ascended to the throne of his biological father. So Isaac was Abraham's heir since Sarah was Abraham's half-sister. The firstborn son of the cousin/niece wife ascended to the throne of his maternal grandfather, after whom he was named. So Joktan (Yaqtan), Abraham's firstborn by Keturah, served as a high ranking official in the territory of his maternal grandfather, Joktan the Elder, after whom he was named. This marriage and ascendancy pattern involving two wives and two first born sons is unique to the ancient Horite Hebrew and continued to New Testament times.

Lot's relationship to Abraham is explained earlier in Genesis 11:27 where we are told that he is the son of Haran, Sarah's brother who died in Ur. Sarah was Lot's closest blood relative, other than his sister, Milcah who married Abraham's brother, Nahor. The Horite Hebrew ruler-priest lines intermarried exclusively because they believed that the promise made to their ancestors in Eden (Gen. 3:15) concerning the birth of Messiah (the Seed of God) would be fulfilled through their people.


Lot's Father and Uncles

Lot's father was Haran, a son of the ruler-priest Terah. Haran was probably named for his maternal grandfather, Haran the Elder. Haran is also a place name designating a boundary of Haran the Elder's holdings in southern Turkey. Haran the Elder would have been a contemporary of Terah's father, Nahor.

Haran died in Ur of Chaldees and later his fatehr Terah died in Haran. Upon Terah's death, Nahor ruled over Terah's properties in Mesopotamia and Abraham became a Sent-away son. 

When Abraham left Haran, Lot traveled with him and his aunt Sarah to Canaan (Gen. 12:1). This is a turning point in biblical history. The calling of Abraham to Canaa would change history and Lot's story is an important sub-text in understanding that history.

Lot לוֹט

Lot's name means veil, hidden or covering. It is the same as the name Lotan, a son of Seir the Horite Hebrew chief of Edom (Gen. 36). One of Lot's royal kin was the Kushite ruler Nim-Lot. Min-Lot means the "waters of Lot." This refers to a 3-clan confederation of Ar, Arvd and Arkt. The last two clans are named in Genesis 10:15-17 and the clan of Ar is linked to Lot in Deuteronomy 2:9. This confederation appears to have had control of the entrance to the Mediterranean from the island kingdom at Arvad. It is an ancient confederation, dating to before Lot's time.

Analysis of the relationship between Abraham, Nahor and Lot indicates a pattern of marriage between patrilineal parallel cousins (clan endogamy) such as that found in Genesis 4 and 5 between the lies of Cain and Seth.

According to Genesis 22:20, Lot's sister married Nahor and gave birth to eight sons. The most notable of Milcah's sons was Kemuel the father of Aram.

Lot's regional identity was Aramean but he was ethnically Kushite. He and Abraham belonged to the Horite caste of ruler-priests who were devotees of Horus who was called "son of God."  One of Lot's daughters apparently married Seir the Horite (Gen. 36) and named their first-born Lotan after her father.


Lot in Canaan

There was little opportunity for Lot in Padan-Aram, Nahor's territory. Like Abraham, he would seek his fortune to the west, in Canaan. It is likely that Lot's wife traveled with them, though she is not mentioned until we come to the story of the pillar of salt (Gen. 18). There she disappears and is replaced by 2 women, much more typical of the kinship pattern of Abraham's people.

In Canaan, both Abraham and Lot and their flocks prospered to the point that they found it necessary to separate (Gen. 13). Lot looked upon the whole plain of the Jordan which appeared "like the garden of the Lord" (Gen. 13:10) and chose to move eastward toward the cities of the Plain.

Lot's status in Canaan was that of a wealthy stranger, like Abraham. He had herds and men to tend the herds, but he lived in a fine house in Sodom. The Sodomites refer to Lot as a sojourner among them who plays the role of judge (Gen. 18:9). He spent time at the town gate, where the elders of the city deliberated on important matters and settled disputes. But, it is evident that Lot did not consider it wise to be out after dark because he urges the angelic visitors to stay with him and to come quickly into his house.

According to Genesis 19:24-25, Sodom (Hebrew: סְדוֹם) was destroyed by fire and brimstone which rained down from heaven. This event is said to have coincided with Lot’s hospitality to angels. Sodom was one of several towns destroyed, but it is Sodom from which we receive the term ‘sodomy’.

The city of Sodom was located on a fault line along the eastern side of a plain south of the Dead Sea, so Clapp's theory is plausible. The biblical account of Sodom's destruction comes from Abraham’s vantage point. Genesis 19:28, tells us that Abraham “looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, toward all the land of the plain, and he saw dense smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace." Dense smoke suggests a petroleum-based fire. Smoke rising as from a furnace indicates a forced draft, such as would be expected from fault lines where underground oil and gas deposits were under pressure. Clearly there was an explosion which carried brimstone into the air above the cities. 

As Lot flees with his family from Sodom, his wife is turned to a pillar of salt when she looked back. One need not take this literally. Jesus refers to this, not as an historical event, but to teach a lesson about discipleship (Luke 17:28-32). If this woman was Abraham's niece, we understand something of the urgency of Abraham's intercession for Lot and his family.

Outside of Sodom, a very different and credible picture of Lot emerges. Lot has 2 first-born sons: Moab and Ben-Ammi, making him a chief, like his grandfather Terah. The mothers of these sons were probably wives, not daughters, and they are more vital to ths history than Lot's wife turned to salt. 

The casting of the Moabites and the Ammonites as the fruit of incest is a tribal tale told to scorn other peoples. This story is the work of the same writer who told us about Noah becoming drunk and exposing himself to his sons (Gen. 9:21-27). These stories of drunken fathers are used to bolster claims of one people over another by denigrating their ancestors and their religion. Whenever this happens, God overrules. According to Deuteronomy 23:3, no descendant of Moab was allowed in the assembly of Israel, yet David appeared in the assembly and he is a descendant of Moab by Ruth.

Lot is an interesting character, both the brunt of tribal scorn and the founder of great nations. Like Abraham, he was a wealthy sojourner in Canaan who God helped in the day of trouble. As with Abraham, God gave territory to Lot and intended that Lot's territory remain with his descendants. In Deuteronomy 2:9, we read "And the LORD said unto me, Distress not the Moabites, neither contend with them in battle: for I will not give thee of their land for a possession; because I have given Ar unto the children of Lot for a possession." 

Again in Deuteronomy 2:19, we read: "And when thou comest nigh over against the children of Ammon, distress them not, nor meddle with them: for I will not give thee of the land of the children of Ammon any possession; because I have given it unto the children of Lot for a possession."

Also like Abraham, Lot's house would be blessed through his descendants, one of whom was to be David, Israel's greatest king. David was the descendant of the Moabite Ruth and the Moabite were descendants of Lot, the Horite Hebrew.


Related reading: Abraham's Intercession for Lot; Lot's Daughters; Two Passovers and Two Drunken Fathers; Terah Means Priest