Beer-lahai-roi: The Well of the Living One Who Sees Me

Interpreting Genesis through Neville Goddard’s Law of Assumption

In the Bible, names are never accidental—they mark internal states, spiritual awakenings, and psychological transitions. One such name is Beer-lahai-roi, first appearing in Genesis 16, and it is rich with symbolic meaning when interpreted through the Law of Assumption, as taught by Neville Goddard.

Meaning and Location

Beer-lahai-roi (בְּאֵר לַחַי רֹאִי) means:

“The well of the Living One who sees me”
Or more intimately:
“The well of vision and life”

It appears in three moments in Genesis:

• When Hagar names the well after being seen by God in the wilderness.

• When Isaac returns from this well just before meeting Rebekah.

• When Isaac dwells there after Abraham’s death.

Each instance symbolises a shift in inner awareness—an encounter with the divine within.

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1. Hagar and the Well: Awareness in Despair

(Genesis 16:14)

Hagar, a servant cast out and pregnant, flees into the wilderness. She feels unseen, unwanted, and powerless—until the angel of the Lord appears and speaks destiny into her life. Moved, she names the well Beer-lahai-roi, saying:

“Have I truly seen the One who sees me?”

Neville’s insight:
This is the moment when an individual—desolate and wandering in a barren mental state—suddenly becomes aware that their Imagination (God) is watching, guiding, and present. The Law of Assumption begins with awareness: that you are not at the mercy of conditions, but are the operant power behind them.

The well symbolises the subconscious mind, where assumptions are impressed. Hagar’s despair is met with vision. She sees, and is seen. This recognition stirs a new assumption: I am known. I am not forgotten. I have a purpose.

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2. Isaac Returns from the Well: Movement into Fulfilment

(Genesis 24:62)

Later, Isaac comes from Beer-lahai-roi just before meeting Rebekah. It is evening, and he is in the field to meditate. As he lifts his eyes, Rebekah appears—the destined bride.

Neville’s insight:
Meditation is the practice of dwelling in a state. Isaac, representing the child of promise, emerges from Beer-lahai-roi—the state of divine recognition—and meets Rebekah, symbol of the feminine subconscious, the receptive mind.

This is the mystical union: awareness (masculine) joins feeling (feminine) to bring forth manifestation.

By dwelling in the assumption of being seen, loved, and fulfilled, Isaac is ready to receive the next unfolding. This moment reflects the bridge of incidents, where imagination externalises into form.

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3. Isaac Dwells There: Living in the Assumption

(Genesis 25:11)

After Abraham’s death, it is said:

“And Isaac dwelt by the well Lahai-roi.”

The heir of faith now resides in the place of vision. It’s no longer a passing experience—it is a state of being.

Neville’s insight:
You do not visit the state—you live in it. To dwell in Beer-lahai-roi is to abide in the assumption that your awareness is divine and active. The God who sees you is your own “I AM”. To stay in that well is to continually draw from the depths of inner knowing and assume the state of fulfilment.

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Final Thoughts: The Well Within

Beer-lahai-roi is not a physical well in a desert. It is a symbol of the place within you where you recognise that your desires are seen, that your imagination is alive, and that assumption is the channel through which life is drawn.

Every wilderness moment—like Hagar’s—is an opportunity to discover that there is a Living One within you who sees. When you assume you are seen, loved, and guided, you begin to dwell in the reality of it. And what you dwell in, you will see externalised.

"Assume the feeling of the wish fulfilled," Neville taught,
and from that inner well, all things are born.