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Genesis 16 Bible study: The God who sees
The Bible's first "angel" comes to a runaway Egyptian servant, and she becomes the first person in the Bible said to name the LORD: "a God who sees". Her son's name, Ishmael, says God hears. The plan that brought her there uses the words of the fall.
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“She called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, “You are a God who sees,” for she said, “Have I even stayed alive after seeing him?””
Try it · Did you catch it?
“The first time the Bible says ‘angel,’ the angel comes to Hagar.”
Is that in Genesis 16, or not? Make your call.
What's really going on
Words from the garden
Sarai has had no child after ten years in Canaan (16:1, 3), and she proposes her Egyptian servant Hagar. "Abram listened to the voice of Sarai" (16:2). In Hebrew this is the same expression God used to the man in 3:17: "you have listened to your wife’s voice". And Sarai "took Hagar… and gave her to Abram her husband" (16:3), the same three words (took, gave, husband) as when the woman "took some of its fruit" and "gave some to her husband" (3:6).
Where it leads to Jesus
Two sons, two covenants
Genesis 16:15leads toGalatians 5:1
Paul writes that “Abraham had two sons, one by the servant, and one by the free woman” and that “These things contain an allegory, for these are two covenants” (Galatians 4:22-24). He ends, “we are not children of a servant, but of the free woman” (Galatians 4:31), and, “Stand firm therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free” (Galatians 5:1).
Honest questions
Questions people ask about Genesis 16
That was a taste
The rest of Genesis 16 is waiting in Favor
- Affliction, and a God who hears
- Found in the wilderness
- A God who sees and hears affliction
- Hagar in Galatians
- 9 questions as you read
- 5 more Hebrew words
- A short check at the end
- Your notes, saved as you go
Favor reads the Bible in order, so you'll reach Genesis 16 with everything before it in view. First week free, then $10 a month per person.
The Hebrew word behind it
אֵל רֳאִיEl Ro'isay EL ro-EE
El, God, and ro'i, seeing or sight (Brown-Driver-Briggs: "looking, seeing, sight"). "She called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, 'You are a God who sees'" (16:13). No one before her in the Bible is said to name the LORD: people "call on the LORD’s name" (4:26), and Abram "called on the LORD’s name" (12:8), but Hagar gives him one. The well is then called Beer Lahai Roi, which Brown-Driver-Briggs renders "well of the living One that seeth me" (16:14).
For your group
Genesis 16 Bible study questions
- 1Sarai and Abram had waited ten years in Canaan for the promised heir before they made their plan. What do you do when something God has promised seems slow in coming?
- 2The LORD's angel found a runaway servant in the wilderness and called her by name. What does that tell you about whom God notices?
- 3Hagar named God "a God who sees". When have you felt seen by God, or longed to be?
Leading a group? In Favor, everyone reads Genesis 16 during the week and answers these questions privately. Answers stay sealed until you meet, then appear together, and you can print the week's sheet.
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Questions
What is Favor?
Favor is a Bible study app that explains every chapter as you read: the Hebrew and Greek behind the words, the details most readers miss, and how each part of the Bible leads to Jesus. Read on your own, or start a Bible study with friends, family or your church.
How much does it cost?
Your first week is free. After that it's $10 a month per person, the same for everyone, including groups and churches. There are no tiers and nothing extra to unlock.
Can I read Genesis 16 straight away?
Favor takes the Bible as one story, in order, so you'll reach Genesis 16 with everything that leads up to it in view. Start from Genesis, or meet Jesus first in the Gospels. You can read the text of any chapter in Favor's Look up whenever you like.
Do I need a group?
No. Many people read on their own. If you'd like to read with others, start a Bible study and share one link. Everyone's answers stay private until you meet.
I've never really read the Bible. Is this for me?
Yes. Favor starts where you are and explains as it goes. The questions along the way aren't marked right or wrong: you answer, then see what the text shows.
Which Bible does Favor use?
The World English Bible, a modern, readable translation in the public domain. God's name appears as "the LORD", as in most English Bibles.
Is Favor tied to a church?
No. Favor is non-denominational. Where Christians read a passage differently, it shows the main views side by side and doesn't pick one.
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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Hebrew and Greek words are checked against the original-language texts and public-domain lexicons. What we believe · Favor home