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Larry Gerndt

Lot's wife

November 6, 2011 | Comment icon 10 comments
Image Credit: Mark A. Wilson
In the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, the bible says that Lot's wife was turned into a pillar of salt. Thanks to Zecharia Sitchin, I've learned that this is very likely a mistranslation, though a very understandable mistake, as you'll see. What might actually have happened to her is far more interesting. First, here's the relevant passage.

Genesis 19:24-26 Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven; 19:25 And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground. But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.

The Hebrew word translated as salt in this passage is melach, which does indeed mean salt. However, the root of melach is malach, which means to vanish away, or dissipate, as salt does when mixed into water. Given that Hebrew writing omits vowels, it's easy to see why malach may have been mistranslated as melach. Here's a verse from Isaiah wherein malach (vanish away) is used.

Isaiah 51:6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish away (malach) like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner: but my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished.

While credit goes to Zecharia Sitchen for pointing out the melach/malach confusion, Zecharia didn't address the other word, pillar. But I have a theory about that. Recall the pillar of cloud/fire, which led the Israelites through the wilderness. What this term might be describing is a column of light which came down from heaven, perhaps much like this actual photo of a mysterious beam of light, which is but one of many contemporary examples wherein people have witnessed a beam of light being emitted from a UFO. Now returning to the story, we can theorize with some confidence that what might actually have happened to Lot's wife is that she became enveloped in a column of light (pillar) from above, and vanished away. One can't help but be reminded of Star Trek's transporter beam.

And it wouldn't be the first time such a thing happened in the bible. In the following passage, an unknown man who turns out to be an angel appears to Manoah and his wife, instructing them on how to raise their child. When he's ready to leave, a beam of light comes down to consume the sacrifice and the man steps into it and rises up to heaven!

Judges 13:20 : 17 And Manoah said unto the angel of the LORD, What is thy name, that when thy sayings come to pass we may do thee honour? And the angel of the LORD said unto him, Why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is secret? So Manoah took a kid with a meat offering, and offered it upon a rock unto the LORD: and the angel did wondrously; and Manoah and his wife looked on. For it came to pass, when the flame went up toward heaven from off the altar, that the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar. And Manoah and his wife looked on it, and fell on their faces to the ground.

And with that, another amazing (and emerging) truth comes to light. For an in-depth discussion of this topic see also Steven Cheairs' excellent article, Lot's Wife. In that article he points out some of Jesus's words which lend additional weight to the theory that this was indeed a mistranslation, and that Jesus knew the actual meaning.

Also interesting is that the Hebrew word for angels is malachim. It would seem to me, therefore, that they were named after their ability to vanish into thin air.[!gad]In the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, the bible says that Lot's wife was turned into a pillar of salt. Thanks to Zecharia Sitchin, I've learned that this is very likely a mistranslation, though a very understandable mistake, as you'll see. What might actually have happened to her is far more interesting. First, here's the relevant passage.

Genesis 19:24-26 Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven; 19:25 And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground. But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.

The Hebrew word translated as salt in this passage is melach, which does indeed mean salt. However, the root of melach is malach, which means to vanish away, or dissipate, as salt does when mixed into water. Given that Hebrew writing omits vowels, it's easy to see why malach may have been mistranslated as melach. Here's a verse from Isaiah wherein malach (vanish away) is used.

Isaiah 51:6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish away (malach) like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner: but my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished.

While credit goes to Zecharia Sitchen for pointing out the melach/malach confusion, Zecharia didn't address the other word, pillar. But I have a theory about that. Recall the pillar of cloud/fire, which led the Israelites through the wilderness. What this term might be describing is a column of light which came down from heaven, perhaps much like this actual photo of a mysterious beam of light, which is but one of many contemporary examples wherein people have witnessed a beam of light being emitted from a UFO. Now returning to the story, we can theorize with some confidence that what might actually have happened to Lot's wife is that she became enveloped in a column of light (pillar) from above, and vanished away. One can't help but be reminded of Star Trek's transporter beam.

And it wouldn't be the first time such a thing happened in the bible. In the following passage, an unknown man who turns out to be an angel appears to Manoah and his wife, instructing them on how to raise their child. When he's ready to leave, a beam of light comes down to consume the sacrifice and the man steps into it and rises up to heaven!

Judges 13:20 : 17 And Manoah said unto the angel of the LORD, What is thy name, that when thy sayings come to pass we may do thee honour? And the angel of the LORD said unto him, Why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is secret? So Manoah took a kid with a meat offering, and offered it upon a rock unto the LORD: and the angel did wondrously; and Manoah and his wife looked on. For it came to pass, when the flame went up toward heaven from off the altar, that the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar. And Manoah and his wife looked on it, and fell on their faces to the ground.

And with that, another amazing (and emerging) truth comes to light. For an in-depth discussion of this topic see also Steven Cheairs' excellent article, Lot's Wife. In that article he points out some of Jesus's words which lend additional weight to the theory that this was indeed a mistranslation, and that Jesus knew the actual meaning.

Also interesting is that the Hebrew word for angels is malachim. It would seem to me, therefore, that they were named after their ability to vanish into thin air.



One man's unorthodox views of selected bible stories. Comments (10)


Recent comments on this story
Comment icon #1 Posted by regeneratia 14 years ago
How interesting! I am always ready to see people rethink the book that had such a hearty influence in this world. So much is LOST in translation.
Comment icon #2 Posted by Robbie333 14 years ago
http://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/images/newsitems/lotpillar.jpg Larry Gerndt: In the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, the bible says that Lot's wife was turned into a pillar of salt. Thanks to Zecharia Sitchin, I've learned that this is very likely a mistranslation, though a very understandable mistake, as you'll see. What might actually have happened to her is far more interesting. First, here's the relevant passage.View: Full Article Thank you for this. I agree, there must be many mistranslation within the Bible. The message of grace does not change though.
Comment icon #3 Posted by Abramelin 14 years ago
The modern equivalent would be: "she turned into a frige" (salt was used to conserve food). Perfectly understandable.
Comment icon #4 Posted by Erudite Celt 13 years ago
I would like to offer a word of correction to Sitchins translations of the Hebrew language. The word Malach does not mean to vanish away...it means Angle of... or ​... Messenger of. ​Sitchin's translations leave allot to be desired,as evidenced here; he will even change the meanings of words to fit with his theories! It would be highly unlikely that all of the Hebrew scribes from the time of the Babylonian enslavement until the present day had a lesser knowledge of Hebrew than Sitchin or would miss something like a simple grammatical error. When you read a translation by Sitchin always cro... [More]
Comment icon #5 Posted by sonofman 13 years ago
The word Malach does not mean to vanish away... Sorry, you're just wrong. Look it up: http://www.biblestudytools.com/lexicons/hebrew/kjv/malach.html
Comment icon #6 Posted by Erudite Celt 13 years ago
Sorry, you're just wrong. Look it up: http://www.biblestud...kjv/malach.html An example of the proper ad-verb in context of the word Malach is amply illustrated in the name of the Prophet Malachi. Malach...[ messenger ] and [ the great " I "...' I AM '...G*d ]....Messenger of G*d. My Media a id="cke_53" class="cke_off cke_button_justifyright" "="" href="" title="Align Right" tabindex="-1" hidefocus="true" role="button" aria-labelledby="cke_53_label" style="margin: 0px; padding: 3px 5px; border: 0px; background-color: transparent; width: auto; height: 18px; border-collapse: collapse; vertical-a... [More]
Comment icon #7 Posted by sonofman 13 years ago
An example of the proper ad-verb in context of the word Malach is amply illustrated in the name of the Prophet Malachi. Malach...[ messenger ] and [ the great " I "...' I AM '...G*d ]....Messenger of G*d. Isaiah 51:6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish away (malach) like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner: but my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished.
Comment icon #8 Posted by sonofman 13 years ago
P.S. While we're debating what "malach" means--messenger or "vanish away", we ought to consider that we may both be right. It may well be that the messengers of God (angels, malakim), had a characteristic, the ability to vanish into thin air when they left. A similar double-meaning is lost in translation when it comes to Genesis 6:2: "There were giants (Nephilim) in the earth in those days..." The word Nephilim is the plural form of Nephil, whose root Naphal means "to fall". This is the original of the term "fallen angels". But they were also giants. So the word connotes two meanings at once, ... [More]
Comment icon #9 Posted by Erudite Celt 13 years ago
The Nephilim question is one that certainly fascinates me. The graves of giants litter the Irish landscape both in the physical and legendary sense. These beings known as the Fomorians were regarded as semi-divine. This seafaring race of beings came to Ireland after the flood [ so legend has it ]. The Greek geographer and sailor Pytheas of Massilia made note of these people in 350BC saying " these giant men once had domain over Hiberi...but know there number are few...we have seen them in the tides with nets some are as large as nine pouse 8-9 feet. A grave was unearthed in 1972 in the area we... [More]
Comment icon #10 Posted by Abramelin 13 years ago
As far as I know, no works of Pytheas have survived. We only know of him through others quoting from his work. But I never heard of Pytheas or someone quoting him mentioning 'giants'. And I also never heard of these giants in Ireland. Do you have some links, Erudite Celt?


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