She Sees Too

And He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s slave-girl, where did you come from and where are you going?”  Genesis 16:8

Hagar – By now you are well aware that names in the Hebrew Scriptures often carry deeper meanings.  Sometimes the Scriptures explain those meanings.  Sometimes they don’t, and we are left to discover them ourselves.  And sometimes we pass over a name without giving it a second thought because from our perspective, it’s just a name.  Hagar is one of those names.  Until today you probably never thought that this Egyptian slave would open our eyes to one of God’s secrets.

The consonants for the name Hagar are H-G-R (Hey-Gimmel-Resh).  The pictograph is quite interesting – “behold, a person lifted up.”  That’s a startling appellation for a slave.  But this isn’t all that the name contains.  Rabbi Michal Shekel (a woman) points out that the divine letter Hey is included in Hagar’s name.[1]  Of course, the same divine letter is added to the names Abram and Sarai to produce Abraham and Sarah.  The occasion of that addition is a significant step in the faith of Abram.  But in Hagar’s case, God’s divine letter is present in her name from the beginning. 

Now, if we take the three consonants and add the vowels like this – Hager – then we get the meaning “YHWH of a ger (a stranger).”  With these vowels, Hager’s name means “the one for whom God is a stranger” or “YHWH is foreign.”  But if the vowels are added like this – Hagar – then we get the meaning “the one with whom YHWH dwells” or “YHWH dwells.”  Which seems to fit the character of this slave girl?  Certainly God dwells with her.  He has his hand of divine sovereignty over her, even when she runs to the wilderness.  And she is unquestionably obedient.   She responds without hesitation to the voice of her Master and returns to the abuse of her mistress.  This slave girl seems to know God very well indeed.

In fact, Shekel points out that Hagar is the very first person to name God.  She names God el ro’i the “God who sees me,” just as God names her child yishma’el a name that means “God hears.”  Scripture is full of surprises hidden inside the text.  This is a glorious one.  The slave girl has a deep relationship with the Almighty.  Her very name implies that she has always had that kind of obedient trust that God so desires.  He sees her.  He hears her.  And she names her Lord for what He truly is – the One who sees.  There is hardly a more expressive declaration of trusting faith than the life of Hagar.  A slave, a woman and an outcast becomes the real model for unquestioning obedience.

Perhaps Hagar is really the model for the Gentiles.  She doesn’t belong by bloodline but she certainly belongs by divine adoption.  Her obedience is blessed.  She has an eschatological hope that outweighs her present struggles.  Perhaps we need to see Hagar’s faith before we can come to appreciate Abraham’s.  Then we can say, “I know the God who sees me.”

Topical Index:  Hagar, name, see, el ro’i, Genesis 16:8