Lot's wife turned into a pillar of salt. The Hebrew verb used for Lot's wife "looking" back is , "tāḇeṭ". Her looking back at Sodom differs in word usage to Abraham "looking" , "šāqap" toward Sodom in (18:16). The story appears to be based in part on a folk legend explaining a geographic feature. A pillar of salt named "Lot's wife" is located near the Dead Sea at Mount Sodom in Israel. The Mishnah states that a blessing should be said at the place where the pillar of salt is. Other pillars are said to be at the crossing of the Red
Transjordan in the Bible have the wrong ethnicity, but are "within the boundary of the 'pure' geographical location." According to Genesis, (), Ammon and Moab were born to Lot and Lot's younger and elder daughters, respectively, in the aftermath of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. The Bible refers to both the Ammonites and Moabites as the "children of Lot". Throughout the Bible, the Ammonites and Israelites are portrayed as mutual antagonists. During the Exodus, the Israelites were prohibited by the Ammonites from passing through their lands (). In the Book of Judges, the Ammonites work with Eglon, king of the Moabites against Israel.