Lowt (Lot) is both a Hebrew proper name and a noun meaning covering or veil. As a proper name, Lot is Abraham's nephew who accompanied him from Ur, settled in the Jordan valley, and narrowly escaped the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. The name may be connected to a root meaning to cover or wrap.
Lot's story is one of the Bible's great cautionary narratives. He chose by sight (Genesis 13:10), gravitating toward the well-watered plains of Sodom — wealthy land with corrupt inhabitants. Step by step he moved closer: first near Sodom, then in Sodom, then pressed to give his daughters to the mob. Yet God's mercy pursued him even in his compromise. Peter calls him a "righteous man" who was "tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw" (2 Peter 2:8). Lot's life illustrates the danger of dwelling among corruption, and God's power to rescue the righteous from judgment.