Genesis 2:18-20 respek wamen pt.2
18 And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. 19 And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. 20 And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him
the woman is presented wholly as his partner and counterpart; nothing is yet said of her as childbearer.
God creates a new thing to be a help-meet for man
She is valued for herself alone
The Hebrew term used here, ezer, refers broadly to rendering aid
While used to refer to subordinates, the word does not necessarily imply inferiority
22 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as iChrist is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. 24 Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. 25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
God is called Israel’s helper
9 He destroys you, O Israel,
for you are against me, against your helper.
The noun translated “helper” or “partner” does not suggest subordination
Elsewhere the term is used of God as Help
Then the spirit came upon Amasai, who was chief of the captains, and he said,
Thine are we, David,
And on thy side, thou son of Jesse:
Peace, peace be unto thee,
And peace be to thine helpers;
For thy God helpeth thee.
10 Hear, O LORD, and be merciful to me!
O LORD, be my helper!”
4 Behold, God is my helper;
the Lord is the upholder of my life.
5 He will return the evil to my enemies;
in your faithfulness put an end to them.
1 I lift up my eyes to the hills.
From where does my help come?
2 My help comes from the LORD,
who made heaven and earth.
or of military allies
4 because of the day that is coming to destroy
all the Philistines,
to cut off from Tyre and Sidon
every helper that remains.
For the LORD is destroying the Philistines,
the remnant of the coastland of Caphtor.
9 Cush was her strength;
Egypt too, and that without limit;
Put and the Libyans were her helpers.
The adjective “meet” (translated “suitable,” “comparable,” or “corresponding”
stresses that woman, unlike the animals (Gen. 2:20), can be truly one with man
enjoy full fellowship and partnership in humanity’s God-given task (Gen. 1:27–28) of rule and dominion.
Furthermore, she is to be suitable for him
The Hebrew word for “suitable” suggests something that completes a polarity,
the north pole is “suitable” to the south pole
One without the other is incomplete
The woman is deemed by the divine mind “a helper suitable for him.”
“Suitable” (kěnegdô, lit., “like what is in front of him”)
indicates a correspondence between the man and the woman.
The focus is on the equality of the two in terms of their essential constitution
Man and woman share in the “human” sameness that cannot be found elsewhere in creation among the beasts
In every way the woman shares in the same features of personhood as does the man
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. 28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
this equality of the man and woman as image bearers has priority over their differences in sexual roles
although both were crucial to realizing the intended blessing.
There is no sense derived from the word linguistically or from the context of the garden narrative that the woman is a lesser person because her role differs
In the case of the biblical model, the “helper” is an indispensable “partner” (REB) required to achieve the divine commission
“Helper,” as we have seen from its Old Testament usage, means the woman will play an integral part, in this case, in human survival and success.
What the man lacks, the woman accomplishes
As Paul said concisely, the man was not made for the woman “but the woman for the man”
The woman makes it possible for the man to achieve the blessing that he otherwise could not do “alone.
And, obviously, the woman cannot achieve it apart from the man.
Divine “help” (ʿāzar) and “blessing” are found in parallel in Jacob’s benediction for Joseph
25 by the God of your father who will help you,
by the Almighty who will bless you
with blessings of heaven above,
Similarly, the woman is the provision of divine “help” for the man so that the Lord will bless them as they achieve the mandate
Moreover, the dignity of the woman is heightened by the monologue of God’s creative contemplation
This stands in opposition to the creation of the man and the animals, which are described in the third person.
narration of the woman’s creation explores the similarity and dissimilarity between the woman and man and the animals
It shows the uniqueness of the woman and also the singular relationship shared by man and woman.
God “formed” both the man and the creatures out of the same substance (“from the ground”)
woman to distinguish her from the animals; her source is traced to the man himself and not to the “ground.
She is the first of creation to come from a living being
God creates the man first and derives the woman from the man to insure that she is his equal in substance and to maintain the unity of the human family
Thus they enjoy a unity despite their sexual difference, and this interdependence is explicit in the expression “one flesh
So the woman is presented wholly as his partner and counterpart; nothing is yet said of her as childbearer. She is valued for herself alone
God creates a new thing to be a help-meet for man—not so much the woman as the seed of the woman.
She is called Adam’s “helper” (ʿēzer), which defines the role that the woman will play
ʿēzer in 2:18 anticipates in an unexpected way how Eve will be a “helper” to her husband
She will be instrumental in providing salvation for fallen Adam by her “seed,” who will defeat the serpent
15 I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel.”
Hebrew zeraʿ (“seed”) may be a wordplay with the similar-sounding ʿēzer (“helper”).
Since God is said to exercise the role of “helper,” the term does not diminish the person who holds that role.
If anything, the divine nuance of the term “helper” in the Pentateuch gives special dignity
7 And this he said of Judah:
“Hear, O LORD, the voice of Judah,
and bring him in to his people.
With your hands contend for him,
and be a help against his adversaries.”
26 “There is none like God, O Jeshurun,
who rides through the heavens to your help,
through the skies in his majesty.
29 Happy are you, O Israel! Who is like you,
a people saved by the LORD,
the shield of your help,
and the sword of your triumph!
14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you wa sign;
Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son,
And shall call his name Immanuel.
15 Butter and honey shall he eat,
That he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good.
16 For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good,
The land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings.
18 uNow the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. 19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily. 20 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. 21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. 22 Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, 23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.
15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you