Genesis 16

 ¹³ She gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.” ¹⁴ That is why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi; it is still there, between Kadesh and Bered.

IN THE FACE of Sarai’s rough treatment, pregnant Hagar runs away.  She is found by the ‘angel of Yahweh’, by a spring of water in the wilderness – was she heading for Egypt, her homeland?

Yahweh knows who Hagar is, and engages her in conversation.  Where have you come from, and where are you going?

The questions evoke a simple response: I’m running away from Sarai.

And the reaction?  Go back.  And even harder for proud Hagar: Go back and submit.


But he does not leave her merely with this command, but gives her a promise of her own – she too will have numerous descendants; God will multiply her offspring.  He gives her unborn the name ‘Ishmael’ – God hears.  The child will not have an easy life; he will be a misfit among his family.  An odd kind of reassurance, this, but it shows one thing: God knows.  God knows who this son will be, and what he will be like.  Her son will live and grow and become a man.

After being told the name of her son, Hagar gives Yahweh a name from her own lips: El-roi – the God who sees.  God has seen her, and she him.  She was alone in the wilderness but Yahweh, who she names El-roi.  (Remember this is before Moses’ encounter with the burning bush, where El-roi declares himself Yahweh, the great I AM.)

Abram is 86 years old when Ishmael is born.