Verse Lens · Concise explanation
Genesis 16:14 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 14. 14Wherefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi; behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
The well is called Beer-lahai-roi, preserving the memory of the Living One who sees or is seen. Its location is described between Kadesh and Bered, but the exact modern site is uncertain.
Read It With
- Genesis 16:1–16
Read verses 13–14 and Genesis 24:62; 25:11. Hagar names the God of seeing; the well receives a related name; later Isaac is associated with the same place.
Why This Verse Appears Here
The narrator preserves Hagar's theological response in a place name that allows the encounter to remain part of the land's remembered story.
Read Genesis 16:13–14 together
Why these verses belong together: Hagar's El Roi response and the related well name preserve one divine-seeing encounter.
Verse 13. 13 And she called the name of the LORD that spake unto her, Thou God seest me: for she said, Have I also here looked after him that seeth me?
Verse 14. 14 Wherefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi; behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered.
What This Verse Is Not Saying
The place name does not make the well magical, prove an exact modern location, or erase Hagar's oppression.
What Remains True
Communities can remember divine attention without pretending that a sacred place guarantees safety or can be located with false certainty.
How It Can Shape Life
- Create truthful practices of remembrance for people who were seen and heard in suffering, while keeping the memorial from replacing ongoing protection and justice.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Genesis 16:1–16 — Hagar Flees and Encounters the God Who SeesSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
Kadesh and Bered do not provide a certain modern site identification.
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Displayed wording, narrative sequence, names, promises, birth, chronology, and canonical connections.
Exact location: Genesis 16:1–16 in the pinned eng-kjv2006 source; compared with Genesis 12:10–20; 15; 17; 21; 25; Exodus 1–3; and Galatians 4:21–31
Open source ↗hebrew text morphology and lemma data
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible — Genesis
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project
Open Scriptures, Version 2.2 released 2021; repository inspected 2026
Supports: Enslaved-woman terminology, built-up wordplay, wife status, light-in-eyes idiom, oppression and submission verbs, messenger language, Ishmael, verse 12, El Roi, and well name.
Exact location: Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible, wlc/Gen.xml, Genesis 16:1–16
Open source ↗Translation and textual notes
NET Bible — Genesis with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, Digital edition accessed 2026
Supports: Household-building idiom, wife and servant terminology, contempt, accusation, oppression, Shur, messenger, submission, Ishmael, verse 12 alternatives, El Roi, and Beer-lahai-roi.
Exact location: NET Bible, Genesis 16 and translator notes 1–33
Open NET Genesis 16 ↗