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In 1 Clement, the author holds up Lot as an example to follow and his wife as a warning, as Jesus does in Luke 17, the oldest case of this outside the New Testament. Clement also gives a reason for her fate, saying she doubted God and turned against Lot.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Luke 17:32
New Testament
28 Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot, people were eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building; 29 but on the day Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. 30 It will be the same on the day the Son of Man is revealed. 31 On that day, anyone who is on the roof, with his goods in the house, must not come down to take them away, and likewise the person in the field must not turn back. 32 Remember Lot’s wife! 33 Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will preserve it.
Clement of Rome, 1 Clement 11:2
First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians
Early Christian
1 For his hospitality and godliness, Lot was saved from Sodom, when all the country round about was judged by fire and brimstone; the Master having thus foretold that He does not forsake those who set their hope on Him, but appoints to punishment and torment those who swerve aside. 2 For when his wife had gone forth with him, being otherwise minded and not in accord, she was appointed as a sign, so that she became a pillar of salt to this day, that it might be known to all men that those who are double-minded and those who doubt the power of God are set for judgment and as a sign to all generations.
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Notes and References
“... This use focuses particularly around the dyad of Lot and his wife as positive and negative exemplars, a process identified in the New Testament writings themselves (Lk. 17. 26-32). The oldest such example outside the New Testament is found in 1 Clement 11. Here, a summary of the events of Genesis 19, focusing on Lot as exemplar, occurs amongst a list of exemplary models for Christians from the Old Testament narratives. The list includes Noah, Enoch, Abraham and Rahab. [...] This passage contains two themes that will recur in other texts. Lot is rescued from Sodom ‘for his hospitality and piety’ and is held up as an example of those who place their trust in the deity, while Lot’s wife becomes a pillar of salt because she ‘changed her mind’ in ‘doubt and distrust of God’s power’. ...”
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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