Commento su Genesi 16:13

אתה אל ראי THOU ART A GOD OF SEEING — The word is punctuated with a Chataph Kametz because it is a noun, and the meaning is “a God of seeing” — One who sees the humiliation to which people are subjected by others (Genesis Rabbah 45:10)

ותקרא שם ה, the meaning of the words ותקרא שם ה', is prayer. It refers to the kind of prayer in which one praises the Lord, or thanks Him. This prayer may be offered silently, in one's mind or with words. The source for this definition is found in Berachot 32: "as a rule a person should first address G'd by praising Him, before beginning to pray." [to tell G'd of his requests from Hi. Ed.] This thought is reflected in the inscription in most synagogues on the Holy Ark שויתי ה' לנגדי תמיד, "I am ever mindful of the Lord's presence" (Psalms 16,8) The word קרא for prayer is also found in Lamentations 3,55 קראתי שמך ה', "I have prayed to You o Lord," as well as in Psalms 79,6 ושמואל בקוראי שמו, "as well as the prophet Samuel who would pray (successfully) to Him." Also the well-known line כי שם ה' אקרא, (Deut. 32,3) is best translated as "for I will pray to the Lord," rather than as "I will proclaim the name of the Lord." Hagar's new insight, expressed by her saying אתה א-ל ראי, meant that whereas up until now she had assumed that revelations from G'd are confined to the house of Avram, she had now learned that G'd may reveal Himself in any location. This is in line with Baba Metzia 59 כל השערים ננעלו חוץ משערי דמעות, that although the gates of prayer have largely remained shut since the destruction of the Temple, the prayer of people complaining (shedding tears) of being dealt with unfairly by their fellow human beings have not been closed.

ותקרא, the reason why Hagar called G'd א-ל ראי, was that she oly realized in retrospect that she had been addressed by an angel, i.e. by an angel who brought her G'd's message. She had not previously believed that a human being could behold an angel with her physical eyes, a lesson also learned by Manoach in Judges 13,22. As soon as she notice how this messenger who had appeared to her in human garb disappeared in less time than it takes to blink an eye, she knew that that being had been an angel and she called out "you are the angel who manifests G'd's presence." She meant that she had seen a Divine being that is capable of being perceived as such by man. The construction "ro-i" is similar to the construction "o-ni" in Lamentation 3.1 or in "do-mi" in Psalms 83,2, or in Genesis 43,11, "tzo-ri."

הגם הלום ראיתי, “even here I have seen (a divine vision)“ Rabbi Joseph Kimchi explains this verse as meaning that “He who sees me is the One Who has appeared to me,” for she was unaware that it was an angel. When the angel took leave of her she did no longer see him, as people who look at departing human beings until they are out of sight normally do. In commenting on this strange phenomenon she said “the one who sees me,” meaning “although I cannot see him.” She did not realize that this was a divine apparition, and that is why she said: “I have even seen him here.”

He sees the humiliation of the humiliated. [Hagar was saying:] “Granted, I saw angels in the house of Avraham, due to Avraham and Sarah’s righteousness — but why in the wilderness? It must be that, ‘He sees the humiliation...’” (Gur Aryeh)

רְָאִי Substantivform wie חְָלִי, also: das Sehen, das Schauen; "du bist ein Gott des Schauens, dein ist das Schauen, du siehst". — אחרי ,כי אמרה וגו׳; a רואי ,רואִי kann nichts anderes heißen, als: einer, der mich sieht, es ist Präsenz mit Suff, wie רועִי, einer, der mich weidet. הְַלום heißt nie: hier, sondern: hierher, תקרב הלום (M.3.5 .2.B), מי הביאך הלום usw. wörtlich also (Richter 18, 3): "Habe ich denn auch bis hierher gesehen nach einem, der noch mich sieht?" Hagar war geflohen, auf der ganzen Flucht hatte sie sich umgeschaut, ob ihr niemand nachfolge. Sie war darauf in die Wüste geflohen, da hielt sie sich sicher, da brauchte sie nicht mehr zu erwarten, dass sie jemand sehen werde, und da — ward ihr zum Bewusstsein gebracht, dass man Menschen, aber nicht Gott entfliehen könne. "Bis hierher habe ich mich nicht mehr umgesehen nach einem, der mich sehen würde, du aber bist ein Gott des Sehens, dein Auge ist überall, dir kann man nicht entgehen". Der Engel hatte ihr אל שומע, ja, ישמע אל, den "Hörenden", den "in aller Zukunft, stets hörenden Gott" als Vermächtnis für ihr Kind gegeben, jenes Gottbewusstsein, welches nicht nur die äußeren Ereignisse, sondern selbst die nur dem Geiste offenbaren Regungen und Empfindungen des Menschengemütes Gott offen legt; dieses, den Menschen selbst in seinem Innern Gottes steter Obhut unterstellende Bewusstsein sollte ihren Sohn und ihre Nachkommen frei machen. Hagar war aber erst ein frei werdender Mensch. Ihr Gemüt hielt den Eindruck am stärksten fest, dass man von Menschen, aber von Gott nicht frei werden könne, dass Gott ein überall und alles Schauender sei. Sie nannte ihn nicht שמע, sondern nach dem Sehen, und zwar nicht א׳ רואִי der mich sieht, sondern א׳ רְָאי, der überhaupt sieht, dem das Sehen absolut zukommt. — הלום rad. הלם: Klopfen, Schlagen, ähnlich פעם: Schritt und פעמון: der Klöpfel in der Glocke, ,ותפעם רוחו נפעמתי, wiederholt "geklopft", beunruhigt, und הפעם: ein Schritt in der Zeit, ein Mal. הלום nur örtlich: ein einmaliger Hinschritt, bis hierher.

הגם הלום HAVE I ALSO [SEEN] HERE — This is an exclamation of surprise: “could I have ever imagined that here also — in the wilderness — I would see the messengers of the Omnipresent after I have seen them in Abraham’s house, where I saw them regularly!” You may know that she used to see them there regularly from this: That Manoah saw the angel only once and exclaimed, (Judges 13:22) “We shall surely die”, and she saw angels four times, one after the other, and she showed no fear (Genesis Rabbah 45:7).

כי אמרה, she had said in her heart "I recognize that he is an angel, for when a human being departs from the presence of another human being the one remaining behind can continue to see the one departing for a considerable time until he recedes into the distance. I, however, have been unable to see a trace of this being even הלום, when he was still close to me, ראי, had seen me, i.e. the being who had revealed himself to me. It is clear to me therefore, that this must have been an angel, i.e. a disembodied creature."

The word ראי means "the one who sees me."