El Roi

El Roi (Biblical Hebrew: אֵל רֳאִי, romanized: ʾĒl Rŏʾī) is one of the names of God in the Hebrew Bible meaning "The God who sees me" or "The God who sees."

Rashi translates it "god of sight",^[1] Joseph b. Isaac Bekhor Shor translates it "god saw me",^[2] Abraham Ibn Ezra, Bahya b. Asher, and Obadiah b. Jacob Sforno, "god who appears",^[3][4][5] David Kimhi, "god I saw"^[6] or "visible god",^[7] and Levi b. Gershon as "all-seeing god".^[8]

This name appears in the Book of Genesis, specifically in Genesis 16:13,^[9] and is unique because it is spoken by Hagar, an Egyptian servant of Sarai (Sarah), Abraham's wife.

Context in Genesis 16

Hagar, after becoming pregnant by Abraham (at Sarai’s urging, because Sarai was barren), begins to experience mistreatment and jealousy from Sarai. Feeling oppressed, Hagar flees into the wilderness.

There, an angel of the Lord appears to her near a spring and tells her to return to Sarai, while also delivering a prophecy that her son, Ishmael, will become the father of a great nation. After this encounter, Hagar is deeply moved, and she says:

“You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.” (Genesis 16:13, NIV)

She then calls the name of the Lord who spoke to her El Roi, recognizing that even as a lowly, mistreated servant, she was seen and acknowledged by God. This is profound because it shows a deeply personal and intimate understanding of God’s attention and care—even for someone on the margins.