Beer-Lahai-Roi

Beer-lahai-roi is a well in the south of the land, named at the moment Hagar encounters Yahweh in the wilderness. The site reappears later as the place by which Isaac dwells, both in his meeting with Rebekah and after Abraham's death.

The well named for Hagar's vision

Hagar, fleeing Sarai, meets the angel of Yahweh by a fountain in the wilderness. After her exchange with him, she names the one who spoke to her, and the well takes its name from her vision:

"And she named [the Speech of] Yahweh who spoke to her, \"El-Roi,\": for she said, Do I still see now [even] after my vision?" (Ge 16:13).

"Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi; look, it is between Kadesh and Bered." (Ge 16:14).

The site is fixed geographically — between Kadesh and Bered — and theologically: a well associated with seeing and being seen.

Isaac at the well

The well returns in the Isaac narratives. As Rebekah is brought to him from Mesopotamia, Isaac is coming up from the same place:

"And Isaac came from the way of Beer-lahai-roi [where the Speech was revealed]. For he dwelt in the land of the South." (Ge 24:62).

After Abraham's death, the well becomes Isaac's settled home, the place where God's blessing on him is paired with a fixed dwelling:

"And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that God blessed Isaac his son. And Isaac dwelt by Beer-lahai-roi." (Ge 25:11).

Across the three notices the well moves from a place of vision in the wilderness to a residence in the land of the South.