Who Was Lot in the Bible?

Lot was the son of Abraham's brother Haran, making him Abraham's nephew. He accompanied Abraham from Ur to Canaan and later to Egypt and back. When their herds grew too large to graze together, Abraham graciously offered Lot first choice of the land. Lot looked toward the well-watered plain of Jordan, pitched his tent toward Sodom, and eventually moved into the city. Sodom was wicked, and God determined to destroy it. Two angels visited Lot, and the men of Sodom demanded to abuse them. The angels struck the mob with blindness and urged Lot to flee with his family. His sons-in-law mocked him; his wife looked back and became a pillar of salt. Lot and his daughters escaped to a cave, where the daughters, fearing they were the last people on earth, got their father drunk and conceived by him. Lot's descendants became the Moabites and Ammonites — perpetual enemies of Israel. Lot's story is a tragic warning about the corrupting influence of compromise with the world.