Genesis 16:13
Hebrew Bible
11 Then the angel of the Lord said to her,“You are now pregnant and are about to give birth to a son. You are to name him Ishmael, for the Lord has heard your painful groans. 12 He will be a wild donkey of a man. He will be hostile to everyone, and everyone will be hostile to him. He will live away from his brothers.” 13 So Hagar named the Lord who spoke to her, “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “Here I have seen one who sees me!” 14 That is why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi. (It is located between Kadesh and Bered.) 15 So Hagar gave birth to Abram’s son, whom Abram named Ishmael.
Date: 5th Century B.C.E. (Final composition) (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
Genesis 32:30
Hebrew Bible
28 “No longer will your name be Jacob,” the man told him, “but Israel, because you have fought with God and with men and have prevailed.” 29 Then Jacob asked, “Please tell me your name.” “Why do you ask my name?” the man replied. Then he blessed Jacob there. 30 So Jacob named the place Peniel, explaining, “Certainly I have seen God face to face and have survived.” 31 The sun rose over him as he crossed over Penuel, but he was limping because of his hip. 32 That is why to this day the Israelites do not eat the sinew which is attached to the socket of the hip, because he struck the socket of Jacob’s hip near the attached sinew.
Date: 5th Century B.C.E. (Final composition) (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... When Yahweh comes down upon Mount Sinai Moses is called up to the top of the mountain and commanded: 'Go down and warn the people lest they break through to Yahweh to gaze and many of them perish' (Exodus 19:21). In Exodus 33:18-23 Moses requests to see the 'glory of YHWH'. Yahweh agrees to cause his goodness to pass before Moses and to proclaim his name, but the deity stops short of a full revelation of himself: 'You cannot see my face; for man shall not see me and live' (33:20). This limitation is set forth once again as Yahweh describes what he will do: 'Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back; but my face shall not be seen' (compare Exodus 20:22; Leviticus 16:2; Deuteronomy 4:12, 15; Jeremiah 18:17). In contrast to these forceful prohibitions there are a number of texts where it is explicitly stated that a person sees God. So following Hagar's encounter with the 'messenger of YHWH' she 'called the name of Yahweh who spoke to her You are a God of seeing;' for she said, 'Have I also seen after him that saw me? (Genesis 16:13). In spite of the difficulties of this text, one can recognize what is apparently a play on words with 'to see'. Hagar's exclamation reveals that she perceives that she has seen God. Following Jacob's eventful night at the ford of the Jabbok he 'called the name of the place "Face of God," saying, "For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved"' (Genesis 32:30). In both cases amazement is expressed at such a close encounter with God. The fact that God is seen is not presented as normal occurrence, but rather as highly unusual and beyond the expectations of the individuals involved ..."
Staton, Cecil P.
And Yahweh appeared: A Study of the Motifs of Seeing God and of God's appearing in Old Testament Narratives
(p. 26) University of Oxford, 1988
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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