Lot and Rahab Are Saved for Their Hospitality

Chapter 11

1 For his hospitality and godliness, Lot was saved from Sodom when all the surrounding country was judged by fire and sulfur. In this way the Master made clear beforehand that He does not abandon those who set their hope on Him, but appoints for punishment and torment those who turn aside. 2 For when his wife had gone out with him, being of a different mind and not in agreement, she was appointed as a sign, so that she became a pillar of salt to this day,⁠ in order 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.⁠

Texts in conversation

Compare Luke 17:32 and Clement of Rome, 1 Clement 11:2

New Testament · Early Christian

Summary

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.

Passages

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.

75–85 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Luke

Clement of Rome, 1 Clement 11:2

Early Christian · First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians

1 For his hospitality and godliness, Lot was saved from Sodom when all the surrounding country was judged by fire and sulfur. In this way the Master made clear beforehand that He does not abandon those who set their hope on Him, but appoints for punishment and torment those who turn aside. 2 For when his wife had gone out with him, being of a different mind and not in agreement, she was appointed as a sign, so that she became a pillar of salt to this day, in order 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.

90–100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Clement of Rome, 1 Clement

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’. ...”

Michael Carden, Sodomy: A History of a Christian Biblical Myth, BibleWorld (London: Equinox, 2004), 120.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

Lot and Rahab Are Saved for Their Hospitality

1 Clement65 chapters

Compare Luke 17:32 and Clement of Rome, 1 Clement 11:2

Summary

Passages

Luke 17:32

Clement of Rome, 1 Clement 11:2

References

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