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
The City and the Pillar of which is reinforced by the novel's epigraph from the Book of Genesis 19:26 "But his wife looked back from behind him and she became a pillar of salt." "The City and the Pillar" sparked a public scandal, including notoriety and criticism, not only since it was released at a time when homosexuality was commonly considered immoral, but also because it was the first book by an accepted American author to portray overt homosexuality as a natural behavior. The controversial reception began before the novel hit bookshelves. Prior to its even being published, an editor at EP Dutton said to