Yes. Hagar called him “the God who sees me”, and Jesus says your Father “sees what is done in secret”. In Genesis 16:13, the Hebrew word is ro’i (H7210): seeing, sight: here, the seeing that God does. Strong’s says it comes from ra’ah, ‘to see’.
Get DeepWordWhat the original says
Behind “who sees me” in this verse is the Hebrew word ro’i (said roh-EE).
It means seeing, sight: here, the seeing that God does. Strong’s says it comes from ra’ah, ‘to see’.
This form, ro’i, is a noun, ‘seeing’, and it is joined to the word before it, El, ‘God’: word for word ‘a God of seeing’. The Berean puts it as “the God who sees me”.
It is a rare word: the Berean has it only 5 times, each time put a different way, among them ‘sight’, ‘appearance’ and ‘spectacle’:
Word by word
| אֵלֶיהָ | אַתָּה | אֵל | רֳאִי | כִּי | אָמְרָה | הֲגַם |
| to · her | you | a God of | seeing | for | she said | also |
Original form
What this tells us
Hagar is an Egyptian slave in Abram’s household. When she becomes pregnant by Abram, Sarai turns against her: “Sarai treated Hagar so harshly that she fled from her” (Genesis 16:6). Alone and pregnant, Hagar runs into the wilderness, and there “the angel of the LORD found Hagar by a spring of water in the desert” (Genesis 16:7). The word behind “who sees me” is ro’i: seeing, sight. Hagar gives the LORD a name of her own: “You are the God who sees me.” Then she says, astonished, “Here I have seen the One who sees me!” In that household she was seen as a servant and little more. God saw her. The angel had even named her child: “you shall name him Ishmael, for the LORD has heard your cry of affliction” (Genesis 16:11). The name Ishmael means ‘God hears’. Seeing and hearing go together. Years later, when Hagar sits apart from her dying son and weeps, “God heard the voice of the boy”, and “God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water” (Genesis 21:17–19). If you feel unseen, used, or left out of the story, Hagar’s words are given to you as well. You can say them as a prayer: You are the God who sees me.
What the original says
Behind “has seen” in this verse is the Hebrew word ra’ah (said rah-AH).
It means to see, to look, to notice. It is one of the most common verbs in the Old Testament.
This form, ra’ah, is a finished action: ‘he has seen’, with the LORD as the one seeing. Leah explains her son’s name with it; the name Reuben sounds like ‘See, a son!’
In the Berean Standard Bible, it is ‘see’ 404 times and ‘saw’ 294 times, counting their other forms. God uses it of his people in slavery: “I have indeed seen the affliction of My people in Egypt” (Exodus 3:7):
Word by word
| כִּי | אָמְרָה | כִּי | רָאָה | יְהוָה | בְּעָנְיִי | כִּי |
| for | she said | that | he has looked | The LORD | on · affliction · my | for |
Original form
What this tells us
Jacob worked seven years to marry Rachel, and on the wedding night he was given her older sister Leah instead. “When morning came, there was Leah!” (Genesis 29:25). Jacob marries Rachel too, and the text says plainly, “he loved Rachel more than Leah” (Genesis 29:30). Then: “When the LORD saw that Leah was unloved, He opened her womb” (Genesis 29:31). The word for “has seen” is ra’ah: to see, to notice. Leah names her first son Reuben, and gives her reason: “The LORD has seen my affliction.” Her husband did not really see her. God did, and she knew it. She hopes it will change Jacob: “Surely my husband will love me now.” It does not, and she names two more sons with the same ache. By the fourth son, something has shifted: “This time I will praise the LORD” (Genesis 29:35). God speaks the same way centuries later in Egypt: “I have indeed seen the affliction of My people in Egypt” (Exodus 3:7). Being seen by God is often where a change begins. Being seen by God does not always fix the people around you. Leah’s story shows it can still change where you look for love, and what you find to praise him for.
What the original says
Behind “known me” in this verse is the Hebrew word yada (said yah-DAH).
It means to know. Strong’s says its proper sense is ‘to ascertain by seeing’: knowing that comes from looking closely.
This form, vatteda, is ‘and’ with the verb form Hebrew often uses to tell what happened: ‘and you have known’. Just before it is chaqar: ‘you have searched me’.
In the Berean Standard Bible, it is ‘know’ 510 times, counting its other forms. The psalm uses it again in the next line: “You know when I sit and when I rise” (Psalm 139:2):
Word by word
| יְהוָה | חֲקַרְתַּנִי | וַתֵּדָע |
| O LORD | you have examined · me | and · you have known |
Original form
What this tells us
Psalm 139 is headed as a psalm of David, and this is its first line. The rest of the psalm unfolds it: “You know when I sit and when I rise; You understand my thoughts from afar” (Psalm 139:2). Wherever David might go, even “by the farthest sea” (Psalm 139:9), God is already there. The word for “known” is yada: to know, and Strong’s says its first sense is to know by seeing, by looking closely. David says God has searched him and known him. Not a glance from a distance, but a look that misses nothing. That could sound frightening. David hears it as care: “Your eyes saw my unformed body; all my days were written in Your book” (Psalm 139:16). And at the end of the psalm he asks for more of it: “Search me, O God, and know my heart” (Psalm 139:23). Think of a good doctor who knows every detail of your history and still wants to help you get well. You are not a stranger to God. Whatever you keep hidden from others, he already knows, and he has not turned away.
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Download on the App StoreWhat the original says
Behind “the eyes” in this verse is the Hebrew word ayin (said AH-yin).
It means eye. In the Bible God’s eye on someone means his attention and his care.
This form, ein, is singular and tied to the next word: word for word ‘the eye of the LORD’. The Berean puts it as “the eyes of the LORD”.
In the Berean Standard Bible, it is ‘eye’ 425 times and ‘sight’ 185 times, counting their other forms, as in “Keep me as the apple of Your eye” (Psalm 17:8):
Word by word
| הִנֵּה | עֵין | יְהוָה | אֶל | יְרֵאָיו | לַמְיַחֲלִים | לְחַסְדּוֹ |
| here | eye of | The LORD | to | fearing · him | to · hope | for · covenant loyalty · his |
Original form
What this tells us
Psalm 33 is a song of praise to the LORD who made everything: “By the word of the LORD the heavens were made” (Psalm 33:6). It pictures him looking down on the whole earth: “The LORD looks down from heaven; He sees all the sons of men” (Psalm 33:13). Nobody is outside his view. The word for “eyes” is ayin: eye. In the Bible, God’s eye on someone means his attention and care. Of all the people he sees, the psalm says, his eyes rest “on those who fear Him, on those whose hope is in His loving devotion.” The next verse says what that watching is for: “to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine” (Psalm 33:19). Another psalm prays, “Keep me as the apple of Your eye; hide me in the shadow of Your wings” (Psalm 17:8). Think of a parent in a crowded park who never loses track of their own child for long, even while talking to someone else. You do not have to be impressive to be watched over. The psalm says God’s eyes rest on people who simply hope in his love.
What the original says
Behind “who sees” in this verse is the Greek word blepō (said BLEP-oh).
It means to see, to look at, to notice.
This form, blepōn, is an ‘-ing’ form describing someone: ‘the one seeing’. Word for word, ‘your Father, the one seeing in secret’.
In the Berean Standard Bible, it is ‘see’ 73 times, counting its other forms. Jesus repeats this same line about prayer and about fasting (Matthew 6:6 and 6:18):
Word by word
| πατήρ | σου | ὁ | βλέπων | ἐν | τῷ | κρυπτῷ |
| Father | of you | the | seeing | in | the | secret |
Original form
What this tells us
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus warns against doing good in order to be noticed: “Be careful not to perform your righteous acts before men to be seen by them” (Matthew 6:1). Some, he says, give to the poor with a trumpet blast, “to be honored by men” (Matthew 6:2). The word for “sees” is blepō: to see, to look at. Jesus tells his listeners to give so quietly that no one knows, and then adds, “your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” The gift that nobody noticed was noticed after all. He says the same about prayer: “go into your inner room, shut your door, and pray to your Father, who is unseen. And your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you” (Matthew 6:6). Think of all the unseen things people do: caring for a sick parent at night, a kindness no one thanks you for, a prayer no one hears. Jesus says none of it is lost on God. If much of what you do goes unnoticed, this verse is for you. Your Father sees what is done in secret, and it matters to him.
What the original says
Behind “looked at” in this verse is the Greek word emblepō (said em-BLEP-oh).
It means to look straight at someone, to fix your eyes on them. Strong’s says it is made from en, ‘in’, and blepō, ‘to see’.
This form, emblepsas, is an ‘-ing’ form describing what Jesus did first: ‘having looked at him’. The next word is ēgapēsen, ‘he loved’: the look and the love come together.
It is not a common word: the Berean has it 11 times, mostly ‘look’. It is the word when, after Peter’s denial, “the Lord turned and looked at Peter” (Luke 22:61):
Word by word
| δὲ | Ἰησοῦς | ἐμβλέψας | αὐτῷ | ἠγάπησεν | αὐτὸν |
| and | Jesus | having looked | upon him | he loved | him |
Original form
What this tells us
A man runs up to Jesus and kneels: “Good Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” (Mark 10:17). Jesus reminds him of the commandments, and the man answers that he has kept them: “all these I have kept from my youth” (Mark 10:20). The word for “looked at” is emblepō: to look straight at someone, to fix your eyes on them. Mark notices the order: “Jesus looked at him, loved him, and said to him”. Before Jesus says anything hard, he looks at the man and loves him. The hard word comes: “Go, sell everything you own and give to the poor”. The man goes away sad, “because he had great wealth” (Mark 10:22). The loving look did not force him. Luke tells of another look like it: after Peter denied him, “the Lord turned and looked at Peter” (Luke 22:61), and Peter remembered. Christians read the call to sell everything in different ways, as a word for this one man or as a call to all, but they agree that the love in Jesus’ look comes first. Whatever Jesus may ask of you, it comes after this look. He sees you, and he loves you, before he says a word.
What the original says
Behind “looked up” in this verse is the Greek word anablepō (said an-ah-BLEP-oh).
It means to look up. It is also the word for the blind receiving their sight, seeing again.
This form, anablepsas, is an ‘-ing’ form: ‘having looked up’. Zacchaeus was up in a tree, so Jesus had to look up to see him.
In the Berean Standard Bible, it is most often about the blind: ‘sight’ 11 times, as in receiving sight, and ‘looked’ 8 times:
Word by word
| ἐπὶ | τὸν | τόπον | ἀναβλέψας | ὁ | Ἰησοῦς | εἶδεν |
| to | the | place | having looked up | the | Jesus | he saw |
Original form
What this tells us
Jesus is passing through Jericho. A chief tax collector named Zacchaeus wants to see him, but “could not see over the crowd because he was small in stature” (Luke 19:3). So he runs ahead and “climbed a sycamore tree to see Him” (Luke 19:4). The word for “looked up” is anablepō: to look up. Jesus stops under the tree, looks up at the one man the crowd despised, and calls him by name: “Zacchaeus, hurry down, for I must stay at your house today.” Of everyone on that road, Jesus chooses his house, and he does not wait to be asked. Zacchaeus “hurried down and welcomed Him joyfully” (Luke 19:6). The crowd grumbles, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinful man!” (Luke 19:7). But Zacchaeus is changed, and Jesus says why he came: “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10). Zacchaeus climbed the tree to see Jesus. It turned out Jesus had come looking for him. You may feel small, hidden, or judged by the crowd around you. Jesus still looks up, and he still knows your name.
Behind "see" are 31 different words
Your English Bible says "see" 1561 times. Behind it stand several Hebrew and Greek words:
Reflect
Read it as yours
Hagar said this alone in the desert, after running away. Read her words slowly, as your own:
Name it
Where do you feel unseen right now? Write it down, and then write Hagar’s words under it.
Carry with you
Who around you might feel unseen, and how could you let them know they are seen?
A note
Feeling unseen or alone for a long time is hard, and it is not a sign that God has forgotten you. If loneliness is heavy, reaching out to someone, a friend, a pastor or a counselor, can help.