Genesis 19:26 - Exposition

But his wife looked back from behind him ,— i.e. went behind him and looked back; ἑπέβλεψεν ( LXX .), implying wistful regard; respiciens (Vulgate); an act expressly forbidden by the angel ( Genesis 19:17 )— and she became (literally, she was, conveying an idea of complete and instantaneous judgment) a pillar of salt . נְעִיב מֵלַח ; στήλη ἀλός ( LXX .); a statue or column of fossil salt, such as exists in the neighborhood of the Dead Sea. That she was literally transformed into a pillar of salt (Josephus, Calvin, Rosenmüller, Kalisch, Wordsworth), though not impossible, is scarcely likely. A more probable interpretation is that she was killed by the fiery and sulphurous vapor with which the atmosphere was impregnated, and afterwards became encrusted with salt (Aben Ezra, Keil, Lange, Murphy, Quarry), though against this it has been urged