The Hebrew word netsib, translated "pillar", does not in any sense refer to a statue or

image in human likeness. It is derived from natsab, which means "to be set, placed or

appointed", and the peculiar form netsib, occurs twelve times, and is rendered in the

Authorized Version "pillar" once, "officer" twice and "garrison" nine times. The idea

conveyed by the expression "a pillar of salt" is rather that of a mound, something fixed

and standing sentinel.  The fatal hesitation of Lot's wife led her to be caught and

overwhelmed by a mass of salt much as the inhabitants of Pompeii were overwhelmed

and fixed by the overflowing lava and ashes of Mount Vesuvius. The Saviour has

endorsed the record of  Gen. 19: 26,  by the pregnant words recorded by Luke,

"Remember Lot's wife" (17: 32).