Genesis 16:14: A well fixed by two landmarks, and the sources put it on top of one of them
Read it →Commentary on Genesis 16:14
God met a runaway slave woman alone in the desert. The well where it happened took its name from what she said about Him, and that name stayed on the map long after her.
What the name means
Most English Bibles leave the Hebrew name untranslated. One reference work places the well and gives its meaning:
This means "well of the living and seeing one." The well lay between Kadesh and Bered, "on the way to Shur," and so in the south. It was here that the angel of the LORD met Hagar, when she fled from Sarai. Her cry at that moment, "You, God, see me," gave the well its name. Isaac lived near the same well Lahai-roi (Gen. 24:62; Gen. 25:11).
(The ESV renders her words in verse 13 as "You are a God of seeing.")
Commentators differ over which side of the name to stress — God seeing her, or her seeing God. One writer gives both readings, and notes that this hard episode still ended in gain for her:
Hagar spoke of God as "You, God, see me," or "You are the God who reveals Himself." The well by which the angel appeared to her became known as "The well of the Living who was seen." So even poor Hagar drew blessing from this trying episode.
Why the untranslated name matters
One writer thought earlier English Bibles handled names like this better:
Some of the early versions wisely and correctly translated the Hebrew words that our present Bibles leave untranslated. It is true that many Bibles put the translation in the margin. But then the reader asks: is the margin correct? And if so, why is it not in the text? The well of "Beer-lahai-roi" (Gen. 16:14) is rendered in the old versions the well of Him that "lives and sees me."
Seeing, and being seen
One writer links the well to God's answer to her cry, and to what she could then see of Him:
How wonderful to learn that God heard Hagar's cry! For her refreshment He provided the well Beer-lahai-roi, "Well of the living who was seen." God not only sees me, but has revealed Himself in grace so that I may see Him.
Another writer sets a limit on how far Hagar herself got. He warns that the bare truth that God sees us brings no rest by itself:
She was the bondwoman: she knew nothing of the liberty of grace. She might look after God, but what she reached was this: "You, God, see me." The simple awareness that God sees us never goes beyond two thoughts. Either He is a Judge noticing our ways to deal with them, or, at most, He is a guardian to protect in the hour of difficulty and danger. But love, liberty, rest, joy in God are never known through the bare truth that God sees us. No one denies that it is true. But as believers we are entitled to something further and more precious: seeing God — seeing Him who is invisible.
The well Isaac later lived beside
Isaac later came from this well and settled by it. One writer draws out what that says about the One waiting at the end of a journey:
In all these wilderness scenes Isaac has taken no active part. Yet he kept in mind all that was happening. He comes from the well Lahairoi — a word of deep meaning, for it means "the well of Him that lives and sees" (Genesis 16:14). How good to know, as we travel on our way, that at the end of the journey we shall find One who has kept His people in mind. He sees and He lives — indeed the word is "He always lives" (Heb. 7:25).
Living by the well
One writer turns the name into a question about where we live:
Don't you think it would do us good if we as Christians dwelt more by Lahai-roi? If we knew a little better what our God has given us, and so knew better the blessing in it? Hagar called it "the well of Him that lives and sees"! That is what it is. It is the "well of Him that lives and sees" us, the well of God, the living water.
Summary
- Named — a runaway woman's words about God named the well between Kadesh and Bered: "well of the living and seeing one."
- Seen — Hagar found that God saw her in the desert. One writer adds that God also revealed Himself, so that she could see Him.
- Limited — the bare truth that God sees you gives you a Judge or a guardian. Love, liberty and rest come from seeing Him.
- Lasting — Isaac later came from this well and settled by it, so the name became a home address, not just a memory.
- Ours — the call is to live where Isaac lived: beside the well of the One who sees us and always lives.
