Fear No Fear

(All scripture from the World English Bible, ebible.org, all rights reserved)

“She called the name of Yahweh who spoke to her, “You are a God who sees,” for she said, “Have I even stayed alive after seeing him?” Therefore the well was called Beer Lahai Roi. Behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered.”
(Genesis 16:13-14)

Hagar doesn’t seem to have been shocked to see an angel. That shows you that Abram was teaching his whole household about God. Hagar is shocked that she – an ungodly person – saw God and wasn’t killed – which also shows Abram was teaching his whole household about God. God is RIGHTEOUS. The ungodly don’t survive in His presence. Nothing that isn’t purely righteous survives in His presence (Exodus 33:20). Hagar was AMAZED that God showed her mercy.

‘Beer Lahai Roi’ means ‘well of the one who lives and sees me’. Its root words mean ‘well of a living (One) my Seer’. It is a specific well in a specific place in the desert (Genesis 24:62; 25:11). Hagar marked where she was given guidance and mercy.

Hagar, an Egyptian and not a follower of Yahweh, responded to the Lord’s words. She heard Him and she obeyed Him. Relying on Him and His promises gave her the strength to live through the conditions of being Sarai’s property.

The sage Ibn Ezra writes: ‘HAVE I EVEN HERE. The commentaries translate halom as now. However, its correct meaning is here. Halom (hither) in Is there yet a man come hither (halom) (I Sam. 10:22) is similar. The meaning ha-gam halom ra’iti achare ro’ i (have I even here seen Him that seeth me) is: have I even here seen an angel of God after God saw my affliction, because God constantly seeth me (ro’i).’

The sage Rashi writes: ‘אתה אל ראי THOU ART A GOD OF SEEING — The word is punctuated with a Chataph Kametz because it is a noun, and the meaning is “a God of seeing” — One who sees the humiliation to which people are subjected by others (Genesis Rabbah 45:10). הגם הלום HAVE I ALSO [SEEN] HERE — This is an exclamation of surprise: “could I have ever imagined that here also — in the wilderness — I would see the messengers of the Omnipresent after I have seen them in Abraham’s house, where I saw them regularly!” You may know that she used to see them there regularly from this: That Manoah saw the angel only once and exclaimed, (Judges 13:22) “We shall surely die”, and she saw angels four times, one after the other, and she showed no fear (Genesis Rabbah 45:7).’

The sage Radak writes: ‘ותקרא, the reason why Hagar called G’d א-ל ראי, was that she oly realized in retrospect that she had been addressed by an angel, i.e. by an angel who brought her G’d’s message. She had not previously believed that a human being could behold an angel with her physical eyes, a lesson also learned by Manoach in Judges 13,22. As soon as she notice how this messenger who had appeared to her in human garb disappeared in less time than it takes to blink an eye, she knew that that being had been an angel and she called out “you are the angel who manifests G’d’s presence.” She meant that she had seen a Divine being that is capable of being perceived as such by man. The construction “ro-i” is similar to the construction “o-ni” in Lamentation 3.1 or in “do-mi” in Psalms 83,2, or in Genesis 43,11, “tzo-ri.” כי אמרה, she had said in her heart “I recognize that he is an angel, for when a human being departs from the presence of another human being the one remaining behind can continue to see the one departing for a considerable time until he recedes into the distance. I, however, have been unable to see a trace of this being even הלום, when he was still close to me, ראי, had seen me, i.e. the being who had revealed himself to me. It is clear to me therefore, that this must have been an angel, i.e. a disembodied creature.”‘

The Torah: A Women’s Commentary writes: ‘Be’er-lachai-ro’i. Literally, “the well of the living one of my seeing.” The naming of a place after a theophany is a common biblical motif (cf. 28:19). However, Hagar is the only woman whose experience is enshrined in a place name. None of the matriarchs receive this honor. Such a privilege for the marginalized slave-woman—the outsider—is striking; the narrative views Hagar with sympathy and as having value.’