📖 Biblical Definition
A divine name uniquely given by Hagar in Genesis 16:13: thou God seest me. After fleeing Sarai's mistreatment into the wilderness, the Angel of the Lord found Hagar by a fountain. She was an Egyptian slave woman pregnant with Ishmael, abandoned and unseen by the chosen-line family. The Lord saw her, spoke to her, and gave her promises. She named Him: El Roʾi — the God who sees me. She is the first person in Scripture to name God.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
EL ROI, n.
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A scriptural divine name; literally “God who sees me.”
📖 Key Scripture
Genesis 16:13 — "And she called the name of the Lord that spake unto her, Thou God seest me."
Genesis 21:17 — "God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is."
Psalm 139:7 — "Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?"
Hebrews 4:13 — "Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Modern marginalized people feel unseen; El Roi sees the slave woman in the wilderness.
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The first person in Scripture to give God a name is a foreign slave woman pregnant out of polygamous arrangement, fleeing into the wilderness with no protector. The Lord met Hagar where Sarai and Abraham had failed. He saw her. The God of the chosen-line family was also the God of the cast-off slave girl.
Modern marginalized people often feel invisible — to government, to church, to family, to society. Hagar's well is still flowing. El Roi sees the abused, the trafficked, the widowed, the unborn, the discarded. He sees the saint, too, in the unseen places of obedience. Take comfort: the same God who said to Hagar thou God seest me sees you.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Hebrew/Greek roots below.
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H410 — El — God
H7210 — roi — seeing; vision
Usage
"Modern marginalized people feel unseen; El Roi sees the slave woman in the wilderness."
"The first person in Scripture to name God is a foreign slave girl in flight."
"El Roi sees the saint in unseen places of obedience."