John Calvin Commentary Genesis 16:13

"And she called the name of Jehovah that spake unto her, Thou art a God that seeth: for she said, Have I even here looked after him that seeth me?" — Genesis 16:13 (ASV)

And she called the name of the Lord. Moses, I have no doubt, implies that Hagar, after she was admonished by the angel, changed her mind and, being thus subdued, returned to prayer—unless, perhaps, what is denoted here is the confession of the tongue rather than a change of mind.

I am more inclined, however, to the opinion that Hagar, who had previously been of a wild and intractable temper, now at last begins to acknowledge the providence of God.

Moreover, as to what some suppose—namely, that God is called ‘the God of vision’ because He appears and manifests Himself to men—it is a forced interpretation.

Rather, let us understand that Hagar, who previously had seemed to herself to be carried away by chance through the desert, now perceives and acknowledges that human affairs are under divine government. And whoever is persuaded that he is seen by God must necessarily walk as in His sight.

Have I also here seen after him that seeth me? Some translate this, ‘Have I not seen after the vision?’ But it is indeed as I have rendered it. Moreover, the obscurity of the sentence has produced various interpretations.

Some among the Hebrews say that Hagar was astonished at the sight of the angel because she thought that God was nowhere seen but in the house of Abram. But this is a weak argument, and in this way the ambition of the Jews often compels them to trifle, since they apply their whole study to boasting about the glory of their race.

Others understand the passage this way: ‘Have I seen after my vision?’—that is, so late that during the vision I was blind? According to these interpreters, Hagar's vision was twofold: the first, erroneous, since she perceived nothing celestial in the angel; but the second, true, after she had been affected with a sense of the divine nature of the vision.

To some, it seems that a negative answer is implied, as if she would say, ‘I did not see him departing’; and then, from his sudden disappearance, she concludes that he must have been an angel of God.

Interpreters also disagree on the second part of the sentence. Jerome renders it, ‘the back parts of him that seeth me,’ which many refer to an obscure vision, so that the phrase is considered metaphorical. For just as we do not plainly perceive men from behind, so they are said to see the back parts of God, to whom He does not openly nor clearly manifest Himself. This opinion is commonly received.

Others think that Moses used a different figure. They take the seeing of the back parts of God to mean the sense of His anger, just as His face is said to shine upon us when He shows Himself propitious and favorable.

Therefore, according to them, the sense is: ‘I thought that I had escaped, so that I would no longer be subject to the rod or chastening of God; but here also I perceive that He is angry with me.’

Thus far, I have briefly related the opinions of others. And although I have no intention to pause for the purpose of refuting each of these expositions, I yet freely declare that not one of these interpreters has grasped the meaning of Moses.

I willingly accept what some suggest: that Hagar wondered at the goodness of God, by whom she had been regarded even in the desert. But this, though it is something, is not the whole story. In the first place, Hagar chides herself because, as she had previously been too blind, she even now opened her eyes too slowly and lazily to perceive God.

For she aggravates the guilt of her spiritual dullness by the circumstances of both place and time. She had frequently found, by many proofs, that she was regarded by the Lord. Yet, becoming blind, she had despised His providence, as if, with closed eyes, she had passed by Him when He presented Himself before her.

She now accuses herself for not having awakened more quickly when the angel appeared. The consideration of place is also of great weight because God, who had always testified that He was present with her in the house of Abram, now pursued her as a fugitive, even into the desert.

Indeed, it implied a base ingratitude on her part to be blind to the presence of God, so that even when she knew He was looking upon her, she did not, in return, raise her eyes to behold Him. But it was a still more shameful blindness that she, being regarded by the Lord—although a wanderer and an exile, paying the just penalty for her perverseness—still would not even acknowledge Him as present.

We now see the point to which her self-reproach tends: ‘Until now I have not sought God, nor had respect for Him, except by constraint; whereas, He had previously deigned to look down upon me. Even now in the desert, where, being afflicted with evils, I ought to have immediately roused myself, I have, according to my custom, been stupefied. Nor would I ever have raised my eyes towards heaven, unless I had first been looked upon by the Lord.’