Category:Lot

Lot, n. Etym: [AS. hlot; akin to hleótan to cast lots, OS. hl lot, D. lot, G. loos, OHG. l, Icel. hlutr, Sw. lott, Dan. lod, Goth. hlauts. Cf. Allot, Lotto, Lottery.]

1. That which happens without human design or forethought; chance; accident; hazard; fortune; fate. But save my life, which lot before your foot doth lay. Spenser.

2. Anything (as a die, pebble, ball, or slip of paper) used in determining a question by chance, or without man's choice or will; as, to cast or draw lots. The lot is cast into the lap, but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord. Prov. xvi. 33. If we draw lots, he speeds. Shak.

3. The part, or fate, which falls to one, as it were, by chance, or without his planning. O visions ill foreseen! Each day's lot's Enough to bear. Milton. He was but born to try The lot of man -- to suffer and to die. Pope.

4. A separate portion; a number of things taken collectively; as, a lot of stationery; -- colloquially, sometimes of people; as, a sorry lot; a bad lot. I, this winter, met with a very large lot of English heads, chiefly of the reign of James I. Walpole.

5. A distinct portion or plot of land, usually smaller than a field; as, a building lot in a city. The defendants leased a house and lot in the city of New York. Kent.

6. A large quantity or number; a great deal; as, to spend a lot of money; lots of people think so. [Colloq.] He wrote to her. . . he might be detained in London by a lot of business. W. Black.

7. A prize in a lottery. [Obs.] Evelyn. To cast in one's lot with, to share the fortunes of. -- To cast lots, to use or throw a die, or some other instrument, by the unforeseen turn or position of which, an event is by previous agreement determined. -- To draw lots, to determine an event, or make a decision, by drawing one thing from a number whose marks are concealed from the drawer. -- To pay scot and lot, to pay taxes according to one's ability. See Scot.

lot Lot, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Lotted; p. pr. & vb. n. Lotting.]

Defn: To allot; to sort; to portion. [R.] To lot on or upon, to count or reckon upon; to expect with pleasure. [Colloq. U. S.]

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---excerpt from the Illustrated Bible Dictionary

Lot - (1.) (Heb. goral, a "pebble"), a small stone used in casting lots (Numbers 33:54; John 1:7). The lot was always resorted to by the Hebrews with strictest reference to the interposition of God, and as a method of ascertaining the Divine will (Proverbs 16:33), and in serious cases of doubt (Esther 3:7). Thus the lot was used at the division of the land of Canaan among the several tribes (Numbers 26:55; Numbers 34:13), at the detection of Achan (Joshua 7:14, Joshua 7:18), the election of Saul to be king (1 Samuel 10:20, 1 Samuel 10:21), the distribution of the priestly offices of the temple service (1 Chronicles 24:3, 1 Chronicles 24:5, 1 Chronicles 24:19; Luke 1:9), and over the two goats at the feast of Atonement (Leviticus 16:8).Matthias, who was "numbered with the eleven" (Acts 1:24), was chosen by lot. This word also denotes a portion or an inheritance (Joshua 15:1; Psalms 125:3; Isaiah 17:4), and a destiny, as assigned by God (Psalms 16:5; Daniel 12:13). (2.) (Heb. lot ), a covering; veil, the son of Haran, and nephew of Abraham (Genesis 11:27). On the death of his father, he was left in charge of his grandfather Terah (Genesis 11:31), after whose death he accompanied his uncle Abraham into Canaan (Genesis 12:5), thence into Egypt (Genesis 12:10), and back again to Canaan (Genesis 13:1). After this he separated from him and settled in Sodom (Genesis 13:5). There his righteous soul was "vexed" from day to day (2 Peter 2:7), and he had great cause to regret this act. Not many years after the separation he was taken captive by Chedorlaomer, and was rescued by Abraham (Genesis 14). At length, when the judgment of God descended on the guilty cities of the plain (Genesis 19:1-20), Lot was miraculously delivered. When fleeing from the doomed city his wife "looked back from behind him, and became a pillar of salt." There is to this day a peculiar crag at the south end of the Dead Sea, near Kumran, which the Arabs call Bint Sheik Lot, i.e., Lot's wife. It is "a tall, isolated needle of rock, which really does bear a curious resemblance to an Arab woman with a child upon her shoulder." From the words of warning in Luke 17:32, "Remember Lot's wife," it would seem as if she had gone back, or tarried so long behind in the desire to save some of her goods, that she became involved in the destruction which fell on the city, and became a stiffened corpse, fixed for a time in the saline encrustation's. She became "a pillar of salt", i.e., as some think, of asphalt. (See SALT.) Lot and his daughters sought refuge first in Zoar, and then, fearing to remain there longer, retired to a cave in the neighboring mountains (Genesis 19:30). Lot has recently been connected with the people called on the Egyptian monuments Rotanu or Lotanu, who is supposed to have been the hero of the Edomite tribe Lotan.