El Roi Meaning: What the Name Means in the Bible
Updated October 22, 2026. Counts from the full KJV and World English Bible text.
El Roi (Hebrew אֵל רֳאִי) means the God who sees me (God of seeing). Strong's Hebrew dictionary lists it as H410 (el) and H7210 (ro'iy). In the King James Version text, Thou God seest me appears 1 time in 1 verse.
The first verse in the King James Version text that matches is Genesis 16:13.
What El Roi means
Hagar, running from Sarai into the wilderness, hears from the angel of the LORD and names him the God who sees her. The Hebrew roi is seeing, so the name means God of seeing, and the well is called Beer-lahai-roi in the next verse.
| Hebrew | אֵל רֳאִי |
|---|---|
| Transliteration | El Roi (ʼēl roʼî) |
| Literal meaning | the God who sees me (God of seeing) |
| English Bibles print it as | Thou God seest me |
| Strong's | H410 אֵל (el): God, god, mighty one H7210 רֳאִי (ro'iy): seeing, vision, sight |
Source: Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (1890), Hebrew dictionary, public domain. Every Hebrew form, transliteration and definition on these pages was read against the matching Strong's entry on Biblehub on 2026-10-22. Verse text is the King James Version and the World English Bible, both public domain.
Where El Roi appears in the Bible
The Hebrew name is not transliterated in the KJV or the World English Bible; both translate Hagar's words in Genesis 16:13. The well named for it is counted separately.
| English text searched | KJV | WEB |
|---|---|---|
| Thou God seest me (KJV) or You are a God who sees (WEB) | 11 verse | 11 verse |
| Lahai-roi, the well named for it | 22 verses | 33 verses |
All 1 verse (KJV, Thou God seest me): Genesis 16:13.
First use of El Roi
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?
She called the name of Yahweh who spoke to her, “You are a God who sees,” for she said, “Have I even stayed alive after seeing him?”
Wherefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi; behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered.
Therefore the well was called Beer Lahai Roi. Behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered.
Names related to El Roi
- Jehovah Shammahיְהוָה שָׁמָּה: the LORD is there
- El Shaddaiאֵל שַׁדַּי: God Almighty
- Elohimאֱלֹהִים: God, the general Hebrew word for deity
- Jehovah Jirehיְהוָה יִרְאֶה: the LORD will provide
See all names: the names of God and their meanings.
Common questions
What does El Roi mean?
El Roi means "the God who sees me". Roi (Strong's H7210) is seeing or a sight, so the name reads God of seeing.
Who named God El Roi?
Hagar, in Genesis 16:13, after the angel of the LORD found her by a spring in the wilderness.
How many times is El Roi in the Bible?
Searching the full King James Version text for Thou God seest me finds 1 time in 1 verse. The World English Bible has 1 time. English Bibles translate Hebrew names, so a count in English counts the translation, not the Hebrew word.
Sources
Source: H410, H7210 via biblehub.com/hebrew, read 2026-10-22. Hebrew meanings: Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (1890), Hebrew dictionary, public domain. Verse text: King James Version and World English Bible, public domain. Counts: Bible Says About, 2026-10-22.
Verses on our topic pages: Bible verses about loneliness, Bible verses about comfort, Bible verses about hard times. Word counts: God, Lord and Bible names and their meanings.
Counted by Bible Says About from the full public-domain text of the King James Version (1769 edition) and the World English Bible. Verse text only: headings and psalm titles are left out. A word is a run of letters: a hyphenated name like Beer-sheba counts as two, and an apostrophe stays inside its word (LORD'S is one). Matching ignores capital letters. Data compiled 2026-10-22.