Genesis 16:13

the Lord that spake unto her These words definitely identify the Angel with a manifestation of the Almighty; see Genesis 16:7.

Thou art a God that seeth LXX Σὺ ὁ Θεὸς ὁ ἐφιδών με, Lat. Tu Deus qui vidisti me. Hagar designates the Divine Person who had spoken to her, by the name Êl, with the epithet, or attribute, of "Vision": see note on Genesis 14:18. She says, "Thou art Êl roi," i.e. "a God of Seeing," or "of Vision." The familiar rendering, "Thou God seest me," is, with our present text, incorrect.

Have I even here looked after him that seeth me According to this rendering, the emphasis is on the words "even here." The meaning is, "have I, even here, in the wilderness, met God? and, though I knew Him not, yet, after He had gone, I perceived that it was He." The awkwardness of the phrase, "after him," is obvious. The difficulty of the passage was realized at a very early time: LXX καὶ γὰρ ἐνώπιον εἶδον ὀφθέντα μοι, Lat. profecto hic vidi posteriora videntis me(explaining the clause from Exodus 33:23).

On the assumption that the text is corrupt, Wellhausen conjectures "have I seen [God, and remained alive] after [my] vision," reading Elohimfor halôm, and inserting va-eḥi. This gives a good sense; but is rendered doubtful by the alteration of the unusual word halôm("even hither").

Similarly, Ball conjectures "Have I even seen God, and survived?" (S.B.O.T.) It may be assumed that Hagar's utterance denoted joy and thankfulness for having seen Jehovah, and for having lived afterwards. Cf. Genesis 32:30; Exodus 3:6; Exodus 19:21; Judges 13:22; 1 Samuel 6:19.