רָאָה (ra.ah)
ra.ah
to see: see
H:VQuick Reference
- Language
- Biblical Hebrew
- Testament
- Old Testament
- Occurrences
- 1,057 verses
- Root
- —
- Part of speech
- H:V
Word Overview
The Hebrew verb ra’ah is one of the most frequent words in the Old Testament, appearing over a thousand times. Its core meaning is simple: to see or look at something with the eyes. However, the sources show that this visual act often extends into mental and spiritual perception. To "see" in biblical Hebrew frequently means to understand, discern, or gain insight into a situation, rather than merely registering light and shape.
This word carries significant weight in key narratives. In Genesis 1:4, God sees that the light is good, indicating an act of evaluation and approval. Later, when Abraham looks up in Genesis 22:13 to see the ram provided by God, the verb conveys both physical sight and divine recognition. The range includes looking after someone, as a shepherd tends sheep, and even causing others to see or show something.
Its versatility allows it to bridge the gap between the physical and the spiritual. Translators often render it as "see," "perceive," or "understand," depending on context. The word emphasizes that true sight involves attention and comprehension, making it central to how humans relate to God’s actions and presence.
Based on public-domain lexicons (Strong's, Thayer, Gesenius, Brown-Driver-Briggs and others).
What This Word Means for Your Faith
The word for seeing in Hebrew carries a depth that goes beyond simple visual observation. When Scripture says God saw something, it often implies He recognized its value or nature. In Genesis 1:4, God sees the light and declares it good. This is not just about eyes registering photons; it is an act of approval and understanding. It suggests that true sight involves paying attention to what is truly there.
This concept extends into our daily lives. We are invited to look at our circumstances with similar care. Sometimes we see only the surface, like the woman in Genesis 3:6 who saw the fruit was good for food. Other times, we are called to discern deeper truths, like Noah whose righteousness God saw and acknowledged. To see well requires a heart that is open to recognizing reality as it is.
When we pray, we ask God to open our eyes. This word reminds us that spiritual perception is a gift. It asks us to slow down and truly notice the world around us and the Creator within it. May you find peace in knowing that God sees you with full understanding and care.
How it's translated
How this word is rendered word-by-word in the 1,057 verses where it appears, by frequency.
- and/ he saw117×
- see51×
- and/ see50×
- and/ they saw40×
- I have seen40×
- to/ see36×
- you will see28×
- and/ he will see28×
- I saw25×
- and/ I saw24×
- and/ she saw22×
- he will see20×
Forms in the text
The inflected forms of this word as they appear in Scripture, by frequency.
- וַ/יַּ֣רְא27×
- וַ/יַּ֥רְא24×
- וַ/יַּרְא֙16×
- וַ/יַּ֤רְא15×
- רָאִ֖יתִי14×
- רָאִ֣יתִי12×
- רָאִ֙יתִי֙11×
- לִ/רְא֥וֹת11×
- וַ/יַּ֗רְא11×
- תִּרְאֶֽה\׃10×
- וּ/רְא֔וּ9×
- וַ/יַּ֨רְא9×
Key Verses
-
Genesis 1:4
God saw the light, and saw that it was good. God divided the light from the darkness.
This verse establishes that God's seeing is an act of evaluation and approval, not just passive observation.
-
Genesis 3:6
When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took some of its fruit, and ate. Then she gave some to her husband with her, and he ate it, too.
Here the verb highlights how human sight can be deceived by immediate appeal rather than spiritual truth.
-
Genesis 7:1
Yahweh said to Noah, “Come with all of your household into the ship, for I have seen your righteousness before me in this generation.
God uses this word to affirm Noah's character, showing that He perceives inner righteousness before others do.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the Hebrew word ra'ah mean?
How is this word used when describing God?
Why is this word significant in Genesis?
Every Occurrence (1,057 verses across 35 books)
Genesis 128 verses
God saw the light, and saw that it was good. God divided the light from the darkness.
Genesis 1:9God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together to one place, and let the dry land appear;” and it was so.
Genesis 1:10God called the dry land “earth”, and the gathering together of the waters he called “seas”. God saw that it was good.
Genesis 1:12The earth yielded grass, herbs yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit, with their seeds in it, after…
Genesis 1:18and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. God saw that it was good.
Genesis 1:21God created the large sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed, after their…
Genesis 1:25God made the animals of the earth after their kind, and the livestock after their kind, and everything that creeps on…
Genesis 1:31God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. There was evening and there was morning, a sixth…
Genesis 2:19Out of the ground Yahweh God formed every animal of the field, and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man…
Genesis 3:6When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be…
Genesis 6:2God’s sons saw that men’s daughters were beautiful, and they took any that they wanted for themselves as wives.
Genesis 6:5Yahweh saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of man’s heart…
Genesis 6:12God saw the earth, and saw that it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.
Genesis 7:1Yahweh said to Noah, “Come with all of your household into the ship, for I have seen your righteousness before me in…
Genesis 8:5The waters receded continually until the tenth month. In the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of…
Genesis 8:8He himself sent out a dove to see if the waters were abated from the surface of the ground,
Genesis 8:13In the six hundred first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from the earth.…
Genesis 9:14When I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow will be seen in the cloud,
Genesis 9:16The rainbow will be in the cloud. I will look at it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every…
Genesis 9:22Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside.
Genesis 9:23Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it on both their shoulders, went in backwards, and covered the nakedness of…
Genesis 11:5Yahweh came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men built.
Genesis 12:1Now Yahweh said to Abram, “Leave your country, and your relatives, and your father’s house, and go to the land that I…
Genesis 12:7Yahweh appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your offspring.” He built an altar there to Yahweh, who…
Genesis 12:12It will happen that when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ They will kill me, but they will…
Genesis 12:14When Abram had come into Egypt, some Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful.
Genesis 12:15The princes of Pharaoh saw her, and praised her to Pharaoh; and the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house.
Genesis 13:10Lot lifted up his eyes, and saw all the plain of the Jordan, that it was well-watered everywhere, before Yahweh…
Genesis 13:14Yahweh said to Abram, after Lot was separated from him, “Now, lift up your eyes, and look from the place where you are,…
Genesis 13:15for I will give all the land which you see to you and to your offspring forever.
Genesis 16:4He went in to Hagar, and she conceived. When she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes.
Genesis 16:5Sarai said to Abram, “This wrong is your fault. I gave my servant into your bosom, and when she saw that she had…
Genesis 16:13She called the name of Yahweh who spoke to her, “You are a God who sees,” for she said, “Have I even stayed alive after…
Genesis 17:1When Abram was ninety-nine years old, Yahweh appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty. Walk before me and…
Genesis 18:1Yahweh appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day.
Genesis 18:2He lifted up his eyes and looked, and saw that three men stood near him. When he saw them, he ran to meet them from the…
Genesis 18:21I will go down now, and see whether their deeds are as bad as the reports which have come to me. If not, I will know.”
Genesis 19:1The two angels came to Sodom at evening. Lot sat in the gate of Sodom. Lot saw them, and rose up to meet them. He bowed…
Genesis 19:28He looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and saw that the smoke of the land went up…
Genesis 20:10Abimelech said to Abraham, “What did you see, that you have done this thing?”
Genesis 21:9Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, mocking.
Genesis 21:16She went and sat down opposite him, a good way off, about a bow shot away. For she said, “Don’t let me see the death of…
Genesis 21:19God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. She went, filled the container with water, and gave the boy a drink.
Genesis 22:4On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place far off.
Genesis 22:8Abraham said, “God will provide himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they both went together.
Genesis 22:13Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and saw that behind him was a ram caught in the thicket by his horns. Abraham…
Genesis 22:14Abraham called the name of that place “Yahweh Will Provide”. As it is said to this day, “On Yahweh’s mountain, it will…
Genesis 24:30When he saw the ring, and the bracelets on his sister’s hands, and when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister,…
Genesis 24:63Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the evening. He lifted up his eyes and looked. Behold, there were camels…
Genesis 24:64Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she got off the camel.
Genesis 26:2Yahweh appeared to him, and said, “Don’t go down into Egypt. Live in the land I will tell you about.
Genesis 26:8When he had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out at a window, and saw, and, behold,…
Genesis 26:24Yahweh appeared to him the same night, and said, “I am the God of Abraham your father. Don’t be afraid, for I am with…
Genesis 26:28They said, “We saw plainly that Yahweh was with you. We said, ‘Let there now be an oath between us, even between us and…
Genesis 27:1When Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, so that he could not see, he called Esau his elder son, and said to him, “My…
Genesis 27:27He came near, and kissed him. He smelled the smell of his clothing, and blessed him, and said, “Behold, the smell of my…
Genesis 28:6Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Paddan Aram, to take him a wife from there, and that as…
Genesis 28:8Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan didn’t please Isaac, his father.
Genesis 29:2He looked, and saw a well in the field, and saw three flocks of sheep lying there by it. For out of that well they…
Genesis 29:10When Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban, his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laban, his mother’s brother, Jacob…
Genesis 29:31Yahweh saw that Leah was hated, and he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren.
Genesis 29:32Leah conceived, and bore a son, and she named him Reuben. For she said, “Because Yahweh has looked at my affliction;…
Genesis 30:1When Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister. She said to Jacob, “Give me children, or…
Genesis 30:9When Leah saw that she had finished bearing, she took Zilpah, her servant, and gave her to Jacob as a wife.
Genesis 31:2Jacob saw the expression on Laban’s face, and, behold, it was not toward him as before.
Genesis 31:5and said to them, “I see the expression on your father’s face, that it is not toward me as before; but the God of my…
Genesis 31:10During mating season, I lifted up my eyes, and saw in a dream, and behold, the male goats which leaped on the flock…
Genesis 31:12He said, ‘Now lift up your eyes, and behold, all the male goats which leap on the flock are streaked, speckled, and…
Genesis 31:42Unless the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac, had been with me, surely now you would have…
Genesis 31:43Laban answered Jacob, “The daughters are my daughters, the children are my children, the flocks are my flocks, and all…
Genesis 31:50If you afflict my daughters, or if you take wives in addition to my daughters, no man is with us; behold, God is…
Genesis 33:1Jacob lifted up his eyes, and looked, and, behold, Esau was coming, and with him four hundred men. He divided the…
Genesis 33:5He lifted up his eyes, and saw the women and the children; and said, “Who are these with you?” He said, “The children…
Genesis 33:10Jacob said, “Please, no, if I have now found favor in your sight, then receive my present at my hand, because I have…
Genesis 34:1Dinah, the daughter of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land.
Genesis 34:2Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the land, saw her. He took her, lay with her, and humbled her.
Genesis 35:1God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel, and live there. Make there an altar to God, who appeared to you when you…
Genesis 35:9God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Paddan Aram, and blessed him.
Genesis 37:4His brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, and they hated him, and couldn’t speak…
Genesis 37:14He said to him, “Go now, see whether it is well with your brothers, and well with the flock; and bring me word again.”…
Genesis 37:18They saw him afar off, and before he came near to them, they conspired against him to kill him.
Genesis 37:20Come now therefore, and let’s kill him, and cast him into one of the pits, and we will say, ‘An evil animal has…
Genesis 37:25They sat down to eat bread, and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from…
Genesis 38:2There, Judah saw the daughter of a certain Canaanite man named Shua. He took her, and went in to her.
Genesis 38:14She took off the garments of her widowhood, and covered herself with her veil, and wrapped herself, and sat in the gate…
Genesis 38:15When Judah saw her, he thought that she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face.
Genesis 39:3His master saw that Yahweh was with him, and that Yahweh made all that he did prosper in his hand.
Genesis 39:13When she saw that he had left his garment in her hand, and had run outside,
Genesis 39:14she called to the men of her house, and spoke to them, saying, “Behold, he has brought a Hebrew in to us to mock us. He…
Genesis 39:23The keeper of the prison didn’t look after anything that was under his hand, because Yahweh was with him; and that…
Genesis 40:6Joseph came in to them in the morning, and saw them, and saw that they were sad.
Genesis 40:16When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was good, he said to Joseph, “I also was in my dream, and behold,…
Genesis 41:19and behold, seven other cattle came up after them, poor and very ugly and thin, such as I never saw in all the land of…
Genesis 41:22I saw in my dream, and behold, seven heads of grain came up on one stalk, full and good;
Genesis 41:28That is the thing which I have spoken to Pharaoh. God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do.
Genesis 41:33“Now therefore let Pharaoh look for a discreet and wise man, and set him over the land of Egypt.
Genesis 41:41Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Behold, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.”
Genesis 42:1Now Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, and Jacob said to his sons, “Why do you look at one another?”
Genesis 42:7Joseph saw his brothers, and he recognized them, but acted like a stranger to them, and spoke roughly with them. He…
Genesis 42:9Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed about them, and said to them, “You are spies! You have come to see the…
Genesis 42:12He said to them, “No, but you have come to see the nakedness of the land!”
Genesis 42:21They said to one another, “We are certainly guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul,…
Genesis 42:27As one of them opened his sack to give his donkey food in the lodging place, he saw his money. Behold, it was in the…
Genesis 42:35As they emptied their sacks, behold, each man’s bundle of money was in his sack. When they and their father saw their…
Genesis 43:3Judah spoke to him, saying, “The man solemnly warned us, saying, ‘You shall not see my face, unless your brother is…
Genesis 43:5but if you don’t send him, we won’t go down, for the man said to us, ‘You shall not see my face, unless your brother is…
Genesis 43:16When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his house, “Bring the men into the house, and butcher an…
Genesis 43:29He lifted up his eyes, and saw Benjamin, his brother, his mother’s son, and said, “Is this your youngest brother, of…
Genesis 44:23You said to your servants, ‘Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you will see my face no more.’
Genesis 44:26We said, ‘We can’t go down. If our youngest brother is with us, then we will go down: for we may not see the man’s…
Genesis 44:28One went out from me, and I said, “Surely he is torn in pieces;” and I haven’t seen him since.
Genesis 44:31it will happen, when he sees that the boy is no more, that he will die. Your servants will bring down the gray hairs of…
Genesis 44:34For how will I go up to my father, if the boy isn’t with me?—lest I see the evil that will come on my father.”
Genesis 45:12Behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth that speaks to you.
Genesis 45:13You shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that you have seen. You shall hurry and bring my father…
Genesis 45:27They told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said to them. When he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry…
Genesis 45:28Israel said, “It is enough. Joseph my son is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.”
Genesis 46:29Joseph prepared his chariot, and went up to meet Israel, his father, in Goshen. He presented himself to him, and fell…
Genesis 46:30Israel said to Joseph, “Now let me die, since I have seen your face, that you are still alive.”
Genesis 48:3Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me,
Genesis 48:8Israel saw Joseph’s sons, and said, “Who are these?”
Genesis 48:10Now the eyes of Israel were dim for age, so that he couldn’t see well. Joseph brought them near to him; and he kissed…
Genesis 48:11Israel said to Joseph, “I didn’t think I would see your face, and behold, God has let me see your offspring also.”
Genesis 48:17When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him. He held up his father’s…
Genesis 49:15He saw a resting place, that it was good, the land, that it was pleasant. He bows his shoulder to the burden, and…
Genesis 50:11When the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning in the floor of Atad, they said, “This is a grievous…
Genesis 50:15When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “It may be that Joseph will hate us, and will fully…
Genesis 50:23Joseph saw Ephraim’s children to the third generation. The children also of Machir, the son of Manasseh, were born on…