창세기 19:26의 미드라쉬

R. Judah the son of (R.) Shalum said in the name of R. Judah the son of Simon: At the time that Amraphel and his allies fought the Sodomites, they seized Lot; Abraham heard about it and set out to do battle with them. After he slew the kings, the Sodomites escaped, as it is said: And he divided himself against them by night (Gen. 14:15), and Now the vale of Siddim was full of slime-pits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled (ibid., v. 10). Abraham reflected upon the matter, saying to himself: The kings that attacked the Sodomites have been slain, while they (the Sodomites) have fled, as is said; And they that remained fled to the mountains (ibid.). Surely if they had been unworthy, they would not have been allowed to escape. The Holy One, blessed be He, replied: The fate of those that fled is alluded to in the verse: If he flee from the iron weapon, the bow of brass shall strike him through. He draweth it forth, and it cometh out of his body; yea, the glittering point cometh out of his gall; terrors are upon him; all darkness is laid up for his treasures; a fire not blown by man shall consume him; it shall go ill with him that is left in his tent (Job 20:24–26). Where was all the darkness laid up? It was in the area north of Sodom, which is at the right (south) of Jerusalem, as it is said: And thy younger sister, that dwelleth at thy right hand, is Sodom and her daughters (Ezek. 16:46). What is meant by the words It shall go ill with him that is left in his tent? They mean that the fugitive who escaped will suffer misfortune in his tent. Who was one such? The wife of Lot, as it is said: But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt (Gen. 19:26).

It is written (in Job 20:23): LET IT BE FOR FILLING HIS BELLY, LET HIM CAST HIS BURNING ANGER AT HIM, AND LET HIM BRING DOWN RAIN UPON {THEM} [HIM] IN HIS FLESH (LEHUM).³⁴Tanh. 4:7. The retribution which came upon the Sodomites was for filling their belly, because they had filled their belly with transgressions, violence, and plunder. Therefore, when retribution came upon them, it filled their belly, as stated (ibid.): LET HIM CAST HIS BURNING ANGER AT {THEM} [HIM]. R. Me'ir said about the destruction of Sodom: The Scripture says (ibid.): AND LET HIM BRING DOWN RAIN UPON {THEM} [HIM] IN HIS LEHUM. (Gen. 19:24:) THEN THE LORD RAINED DOWN UPON SODOM. What is the meaning of IN HIS LEHUM (rt.: LHM)? < That it happened > because of the wars (rt.: LHM) which they had fought with the Holy One. Thus it was stated (in Gen. 13:13): NOW THE PEOPLE OF SODOM WERE EVIL AND SINFUL AGAINST THE LORD, EXCEEDINGLY SO.³⁵Gen. R. 41:7; ARN, A, 36; B, 30. < They were > EVIL to each other AND SINFUL in adultery, AGAINST THE LORD in idolatry, EXCEEDINGLY SO in bloodshed. R. Judah b. R. Shallum the Levite said in the name of R. Johanan bar Nahman: When Amraphel and his associates came to fight with the Sodomites, because they had captured Lot, Abraham went out to fight against them. So he killed the kings, and they fled, just as it is written (in Gen. 14:10): NOW THE VALLEY OF SIDDIM WAS FULL OF BITUMEN PITS; [AND THE KINGS OF SODOM < AND GOMORRAH > FLED] < AND FELL THERE >. Abraham began reflecting: The kings came to fight with the Sodomites. So the kings fell, but those < of Sodom and Gomorrah > fled. Thus it is stated (ibid., cont.): AND THOSE WHO REMAINED FLED TO THE MOUNTAIN.³⁶The following argument is to explain that, while some escaped, such sinners could not evade divine judgment forever. Perhaps you will say: There were worthy ones among them. The Holy One said to him (in Job 20:24-26): SHOULD HE FLEE FROM THE IRON WEAPON, < THE BOW OF BRASS SHALL PASS THROUGH HIM >; HE DRAWS IT OUT, AND IT COMES OUT OF HIS BODY … UTTER DARKNESS IS LAID UP IN RESERVE FOR HIM; < AN UNFANNED FIRE SHALL CONSUME HIM; IT SHALL BE BAD FOR A SURVIVOR IN HIS TENT >. UTTER DARKNESS IS LAID UP concerns Sodom, since it lies to the south³⁷Literally: “to the right.” Parallel texts in Yalqut, Job, 908, and Codex Vaticanus Ebr. 34, ad loc., read, “to the left,” i.e., “to the north.” Although this reading agrees neither with geographical fact nor with what follows, “to the north” does make sense in terms of Job 20:26, where the words IN RESERVE FOR HIM could be vocalized to mean, “for his northern regions.” Note also that the Yalqut consistently reads “north” for SOUTH in Ezek. 16:46, which follows. of the land of Israel. Thus it is stated (in Ezek. 16:46): AND YOUR YOUNGER SISTER [THAT DWELLS SOUTH OF YOU IS SODOM AND HER DAUGHTERS]. What is the meaning of SHALL CONSUME THE SURVIVOR IN HIS TENT? That, even if a single survivor is left {of them} [from there], the evil of evil < SHALL CONSUME THE SURVIVOR > IN HIS TENT. Which < survivor > ? This is Lot's wife, Edith, of whom it is stated (in Gen. 19:26): BUT HIS WIFE LOOKED BACK, AND SHE BECAME A PILLAR OF SALT.³⁸The name Edith suggests the Hebrew ‘ed, which means “witness”; and indeed, as a pillar of salt, Edith did become a witness to all who saw her.

A certain young man of the people of that city saw them, and he ran and told all the men of that city, and they all gathered together at the door of the house to do according to their wont, even deeds of sodomy, as it is said, "And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, || Where are the men who came to thee to-night? bring them forth unto us that we may know them" (Gen. 19:5). What did Lot do? Just as Moses gave his life for the people, so Lot gave up his two daughters instead of the two angels, as it is said, "Behold, now, I have two daughters" (Gen. 19:8). But the men would not agree (and did not accept them). What did the angels do to them? They smote them with blindness until the dawn of the (next) morning. All were treated with (measure for) measure. Just as he had taken them by the hand without their will and taken them into his house, so they took hold of his hand, and the hand of his wife, and the hand of his two daughters, and took them outside the city, as it is said, "But he lingered; and the men laid hold upon his hand" (Gen. 19:16). And they said to them: Do not look behind you, for verily the Shekhinah of the Holy One, blessed be He, has descended in order to rain upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire. The pity of 'Edith the wife of Lot was stirred for her daughters, who were married in Sodom, and she looked back behind her to see if they were coming after her or not. And she saw behind the Shekhinah, and she became a pillar of salt, as it is said, "And his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt" (Gen. 19:26).

"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.

His wife looked behind her - Rabbi Isaac said, for she sinned with salt. That night when the angels came to Lot, what was she doing? Going to all her neighbors and saying to them, give e salt, because we have guests. And her intention was that the men of the city would come to know of them. Therefore "she became a pillar of salt."