◄ 7207. raavah ►
Lexical Summary
raavah: To be saturated, to drink one's fill, to be satisfied

Original Word: רַאֲוָה
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: ra'avah
Pronunciation: rah-vah
Phonetic Spelling: (rah-av-aw')
KJV: behold
Word Origin: [from H7200 (רָאָה - see)]

1. sight, i.e. satisfaction

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
behold

From ra'ah; sight, i.e. Satisfaction -- behold.

see HEBREW ra'ah

NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Origin
the same as raah, q.v.

Topical Lexicon
Strong’s Hebrew #7207 – רַאֲוָה (raʾăwāh)

Linguistic and Conceptual Background

Though the form itself is not attested in the Masoretic Text, its consonantal pattern places it alongside a family of words built on the triliteral ר־א־ה/ר־ו־ה cluster. The broader word-group regularly moves between two complementary ideas: (1) vivid perception (“to see, to behold”) and (2) full saturation (“to drink deeply, to be abundantly supplied”). Both strands converge around the notion of being filled—whether the mind through sight or the body through refreshment.

Biblical Patterns That Illuminate the Term

1. Physical Satisfaction. Proverbs 11:25 celebrates the one who “refreshes others,” promising that he himself “will be refreshed.” The verb behind “refreshed” (ravah) depicts overflowing abundance—a picture likely carried by רַאֲוָה as a noun.
2. Spiritual Repletion. Isaiah 58:11 portrays those who walk faithfully as “a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.” The metaphor signals divine sufficiency that answers inner drought.
3. Vision and Revelation. Genesis 16:13 records Hagar naming the Lord “the God who sees me,” tying divine provision to divine perception. In Hebrew the root for “see” is spelled identically except for the mater lectionis ו, suggesting that what God sees He also supplies.

Historical and Inter-Testamental Usage

Rabbinic commentators occasionally employ cognate nouns (e.g., רוויה, “saturation”) to speak of Torah study that “waters” the soul. Early Christian writers made the same move, applying verses such as Psalm 23:5 (“my cup overflows”) to the Eucharistic cup, arguing that in Christ the believer finds the ultimate רַאֲוָה—complete satiation in God’s grace.

Theological Themes

• Divine Sufficiency. Every appearance of the cognate family stresses that God alone answers the deepest thirst, whether physical (Exodus 17:6) or spiritual (John 4:14).
• Generosity and Mission. Passages like Proverbs 11:25 teach that those who have received divine רַאֲוָה become conduits of the same. Overflow is never meant to end with the recipient; it flows outward in ministry.
• Revelation and Response. Because the semantic field includes “seeing,” fullness is linked to insight. Revelation is not sterile information but living water that nourishes obedience (Psalm 119:18, 97).

Practical Ministry Implications

1. Discipleship. Encourage believers to drink deeply from Scripture and prayer until they move from scarcity to overflow, becoming “streams of living water” (John 7:38).
2. Pastoral Care. Situations of burnout often reveal an empty reservoir. Point strugglers to the Shepherd who “makes me lie down in green pastures” and “leads me beside still waters” (Psalm 23:2).
3. Outreach. A thirst-driven world finds credibility in Christians whose lives manifest רַאֲוָה—visible contentment that invites questions about its source (1 Peter 3:15).

Prophetic and Eschatological Trajectory

The theme culminates in Revelation 22:17: “Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who desires take the water of life freely.” What the Old Testament anticipated by image and promise reaches its consummation in the New Jerusalem, where the Lamb supplies inexhaustible רַאֲוָה to His people.

Summary

Although רַאֲוָה itself does not surface in the Hebrew canon, its conceptual orbit is richly woven into Scripture. From the cup that overflows to gardens that never wither, God reveals Himself as the One who both sees and satisfies. The believer, in turn, is called to live out of that fullness, sharing the abundant refreshment of the gospel until every thirst is quenched in the presence of the Lord forever.

Links
Interlinear Greek • Interlinear Hebrew • Strong's Numbers • Englishman's Greek Concordance • Englishman's Hebrew Concordance • Parallel Texts
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