The Only Person Who Ever Named God
Challenge yourself with this interesting question:
Who was the only person in the Bible to give God a name?
First, think about it, and make a guess – based on your knowledge or intuition. Then, continue reading – and you’ll be surprised at the correct answer.
It wasn’t Abraham or Isaac, nor Sarah or Rebecca. Not Moses, nor any of the prophets.
It was Hagar, the Egyptian maidservant of Abraham and Sarah.
In Parashat Lech Lecha, after Sarah abused the pregnant Hagar—the Hebrew “וַתְּעַנֶּהָ שָׂרַי” uses a root meaning harsh oppression—Hagar fled into the wilderness.
There, she encountered a messenger of Adonai who told her: God has heard your cries. Return home, and you will bear a son, Yishmael (literally, “God hears”) who will grow into a great nation.
Overwhelmed, Hagar gave God a name:
“וַתִּקְרָא שֵׁם יְהוָה הַדֹּבֵר אֵלֶיהָ אַתָּה אֵל רֳאִי”
And she gave Adonai who spoke to her a name, ‘You are El-roi’ [literally, ‘the God who sees me’] (Genesis 16:13)
Why is this the only time that a human being names God?
To teach a profound lesson: that God sees the oppressed, the mistreated, the marginalized, those whom society overlooks (JPS Torah Commentary).
And if we are to walk in God’s ways — imitatio Dei—we too must see those whom society ignores, and stand with those who cry out to be heard.
