Genesis 16:14

_WHEREFORE THE WELL WAS CALLED BEER-LAHAI-ROI; BEHOLD, IT IS BETWEEN KADESH AND BERED._ Wherefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi - well of life of vision; i:e., of life after seeing God. Attempts have been made by Rationalist writers to give an entirely different explanation of this name. By a change of the vowel-points, so as to make lahai into lehi (Judges 15:19), the name has been interpreted to mean, 'the well of the jaw-bone (rock) of vision' - i:e., well of the prominent, far-seen rock. But this sense can be extorted only by a violent alteration of the original text, and is directly opposed to the declaration of the sacred historian. BEHOLD, IT IS BETWEEN KADESH AND BERED. A wady, containing brackish water, is mentioned by Robinson, under the name of Er Muweileh, which he passed without taking much notice of it. But it has since been pitched upon by

14._Wherefore the well was called _(398) I subscribe to the opinion of those who take the word יקרא (_yekra_,) indefinitely, which is usual enough in the Hebrew language. In order that the sense may be the clearer it is capable of being resolved into the passive voice, that ‘the well was called.’ (399) Yet I think this common appellation originated with Hagar, who, not content with one simple confession, wished that the mercy of God should be attested in time to come; and therefore she transmitted her testimony, as from hand to hand. Hence we infer how useful it is, that they who do not freely humble themselves, should be subdued by stripes. Hagar, who had always been wild and rebellious, and who had, at length, entirely shaken off the yoke; now, when the hardness of her heart was broken by afflictions, appears altogether another perso

7-16 Hagar was out of her place, and out of the way of her duty, and going further astray, when the Angel found her. It is a great mercy to be stopped in a sinful way, either by conscience or by providence. Whence comest thou? Consider that thou art running from duty, and the privileges thou wast blest with in Abram's tent. It is good to live in a religious family, which those ought to consider who have this advantage. Whither wilt thou go? Thou art running into sin; if Hagar return to Egypt, she will return to idol gods, and into danger in the wilderness through which she must travel. Recollecting who we are, would often teach us our duty. Inquiring whence we came, would show us our sin and folly. Considering whither we shall go, discovers our danger and misery. And those who leave their space and duty, must hasten their return, how mortifying soever it be. The declaration of the Angel...

Verse Genesis 16:14. _WHEREFORE THE WELL WAS CALLED BEER-LAHAI-ROI_] It appears, from Genesis 16:7, that Hagar had sat down by a fountain or well of water in the wilderness of Shur, at which the Angel of the Lord found her; and, to commemorate the wonderful discovery which God had made of himself, she called the name of the well אר לחי ראי _beer-lachai-roi_, "A well to the Living One who seeth me." Two things seem implied here: 1. A dedication of the well to Him who had appeared to her; and, 2. Faith in the promise: for he who is the Living One, existing in all generations, must have it ever in his power to accomplish promises which are to be fulfilled through the whole lapse of time....

- The Birth of Ishmael 1. הנר _hāgār_, Hagar, “flight.” Hejrah, the flight of Muhammed. 7. מלאך _mal'ak_ “messenger, angel.” A deputy commissioned to discharge a certain duty for the principal whom he represents. As the most usual task is that of bearing messages, commands, or tidings, he is commonly called a “messenger” ἄγγελος _angelos_). The word is therefore a term of office, and does not further distinguish the office-bearer than as an intelligent being. Hence, a מלאך _mal'ak_ may be a man deputed by a man Genesis 32:3; Job 1:14, or by God...

EXPOSITION GENESIS 16:7 AND THE ANGEL OF THE LORD. _Maleach Jehovah_, elsewhere styled _Maleach Elohim _(Genesis 21:17; Genesis 31:11); supposed but wrongly to be a creature angel, for the reasons chiefly (1) that the term angel commonly designates a class of spiritual beings (Genesis 19:1; Genesis 32:1; Job 4:18;...

WHEREFORE THE WELL WAS CALLED BEERLAHAIROI,.... That is, the fountain where the angel found her, Genesis 16:7; this, from the appearance of God to her at it, was afterwards called by her and others by this name, which signifies "the well of him that liveth and seeth me"; that is, of the living and all seeing God, and who had taken a special care of her, and favoured her with a peculiar discovery of his love to her: or this may have respect to herself, and be rendered, "the well of her that liveth and seeth"; that had had a sight of God, and yet was alive; lived though she had seen him, and after she had seen him, and was still indulged with a sight of him. Aben Ezra says, the name of this well, at the time he lived, was called Zemum, he doubtless means Zemzem, a well near Mecca, which the Arabs say z is the well by which Hagar sat down with Ishmael, and where she was comforted by the ang...

BEERLAHAIROI That is, The well of him that liveth and seeth me. (Genesis 24:62); (Genesis 25:11)....

CHAPTER 16 ABRAHAM AND HAGAR _ 1. Sarai's suggestion (Genesis 16:1)_ 2. Abram's action (Genesis 16:4) 3. Sarai and Hagar (Genesis 16:5) 4. Hagar in the wilderness (Genesis 16:7) 5. The birth of Ishmael announced (Genesis 16:10) 6. Ishmael born (Genesis 16:15) The fifteenth chapter may be called Abram's faith chapter. The sixteenth is the chapter of unbelief. It was impatience which forced Sarai and Abram to act f

Sarah has no children, so she hits on a plan of which we have other examples (Genesis 30:3; Genesis 30:9). She hands over Hagar to Abraham, that the maid may compensate for the deficiency of her mistress. The maid is the wife's peculiar property, and therefore not, like ordinary slaves, at the master's disposal. Nor, presumably, would Abraham's child by one of his slaves have been a legitimate son. It is through the connexion between mistress and maid that Hagar's child can be reckoned as Sarah's. Hagar succeeds, and shows in her bearing the contempt of an Eastern woman for the barren. Stung by her maid's insolence, Sarah turns upon Abraham and hotly demands redress for a wrong she had herself invited. He meekly abandons the maid, who had now a claim on his protection, to the vindictiveness of his unreasonable wife, w