Hebrew word · H7210

רֳאִי

ro'i

sight

A noun from the verb 'to see' (ra'ah). Its uses cover (1) appearance or look (1 Sam 16:12, David 'good of appearance'); (2) a sight or spectacle (Nah 3:6, 'I will make you a spectacle'); (3) possibly the act of seeing or a vision (Job 33:21 is disputed).

Appears 5 times in 5 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) looking, appearance, seeing, sight

1a) seeing

1b) appearance

1c) sight, spectacle

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Genesis 16:13

Range of meaning

A noun from the verb 'to see' (ra'ah). Its uses cover (1) appearance or look (1 Sam 16:12, David 'good of appearance'); (2) a sight or spectacle (Nah 3:6, 'I will make you a spectacle'); (3) possibly the act of seeing or a vision (Job 33:21 is disputed). BDB and HALOT both list it as 'seeing, sight, appearance.' The same consonants, vowelled differently, give the participle 'one who sees me', and that is how the verse's final word is pointed.

Against the English

Most English versions give 'the God who sees me' (KJV 'Thou God seest me'; NIV, BSB, NLT). That settles the ambiguity on one side. ESV's 'a God of seeing' and NRSV's 'El-roi' keep it open.

How it drifted

Hebrew names built on 'see' could cut both ways ('God sees' or 'God is seen'). English has to choose, and readers then hear only one-way divine watching. In the KJV tradition this was hardened further into God as an all-seeing observer.

Used elsewhere in the period

The verb ra'ah in the sense of God 'seeing' someone's affliction runs through Genesis and Exodus: Leah, 'YHWH has seen my affliction' (Gen 29:32); 'I have surely seen the affliction of my people' (Exod 3:7). The Greek Septuagint reads the first title actively ('the God who looked upon me'). The Latin Vulgate reads 'You, God, who have seen me.' Both ancient versions take it as God seeing her.

From the study of 1 Samuel 16:12

Range of meaning

'Sight, appearance, a spectacle.' A rare noun from ra'ah, 'to see'.

Against the English

'Handsome appearance' (BSB) and 'goodly to look to' (KJV) are fine. What English cannot show is that this is one more use of the root 'see', which runs through the chapter.

Used elsewhere in the period

Elsewhere: Gen 16:13 (Hagar's 'God of seeing', a related form), Job 33:21, Nah 3:6 ('a spectacle'). The root ra'ah is the key word of 1 Sam 16: God 'has seen for himself' a king (v.1), Samuel 'saw' Eliab (v.6), 'man sees… Yahweh sees' (v.7), and the courtier 'has seen' a son of Jesse (v.18).

Where it appears

Genesis · 1

  1. Genesis 16:13 רֳאִ֑י seeing

    So Hagar gave this name to the LORD who had spoken to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “Here I have seen the One who sees me!”

    Here: The key ambiguity. As a noun it means 'sight, appearance, spectacle', so 'God of seeing' or 'God of appearing/being seen.' The same letters could also be read as 'who sees me.' The phrase may well hold both on purpose: the God who saw her, and whom she saw.

1 Samuel · 1

  1. 1 Samuel 16:12 רֹ֑אִי פ appearance

    So Jesse sent for his youngest son and brought him in. He was ruddy, with beautiful eyes and a handsome appearance. And the LORD said, “Rise and anoint him, for he is the one.”

    Here: 'Appearance', literally 'what is seen'. It comes from the verb 'to see' that runs through the whole chapter (vv.1, 6, 7). A paragraph break follows it in the Hebrew.

Job · 2

  1. Job 7:8 רֹ֑אִי sight

    The eye that beholds me will no longer see me. You will look for me, but I will be no more.

  2. Job 33:21 מֵרֹ֑אִי from sight

    His flesh wastes away from sight, and his hidden bones protrude.

Nahum · 1

  1. Nahum 3:6 כְּרֹֽאִי׃ like a spectacle

    I will pelt you with filth and treat you with contempt; I will make a spectacle of you.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.