04/14/2021
RVCF Weekly Bible Study _Genesis 2:18
Genesis 2:18
The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”
Genesis 2:18 The Hebrew construction of v. 18 accentuates the negative phrase “not good” by placing it at the head of the sentence. God has made the man and provided a beautiful environment with honorable work, a setting men may sometimes consider idyllic, but God announces that more is to be done to achieve the ideal for the man. God’s concern is that man is “alone.” Whether the man felt his aloneness at first is not stated; only the divine viewpoint is given. God has created human life to have fellowship with him but also to be a social entity, building relationships with other human beings. “[Man] will not live until he loves, giving himself away to another on his own level.” Isolation is not the divine norm for human beings; community is the creation of God. The commissioning of man and woman to reign over the good land (1:28) involves procreation, and only together can they achieve their destiny. This unity, however, is not merely sexual; it involves sharing spiritual, intellectual, and emotional dimensions as well. Jewish sentiment noted this: “Whoever has no wife exists without goodness, without a helpmate, without joy, without blessing, without atonement … without well-being, without a full life; … indeed, such a one reduces the representation of the divine image [on earth].”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. Particularly, the creation of woman gives rise to God’s creation of animals in the garden as a pedagogical device for the man’s observation. 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 the same features of personhood as does the man. In 1:26–28, 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.
Here, however, the garden narrative moves beyond that initial assessment by specifying a functional difference that exists between the man and woman. She is called Adam’s “helper” (ʿēzer), which defines the role that the woman will play. In what way would Eve become a “helper” to the man? The term means “help” in the sense of aid and support and is used of the Lord’s aiding his people in the face of enemies (Pss 20:2 [3]; 121:1–2; 124:8). Moses spoke of God as his “helper” who delivered him from Pharaoh (Exod 18:4), and it is often associated with “shield” in describing God’s protective care of his people.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” 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. 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. The woman is the provision of divine “help” for the man so that the Lord will bless them as they achieve the mandate. Also 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 (3:15). Hebrew zeraʿ (“seed”) may be 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 (e.g., Deut 33:7, 26, 29).
Summary:
One of the things I believe we must be careful of is not to impose twenty-first century cultural and moral customs and mandates upon the ancient scriptures. The Holy Spirits' central purpose is to bring to remembrance the scriptures we have read and studied. It is the Spirit's purpose to transpose the meaning of these texts and make them effective and relevant to our contemporary social and political situations. We as the readers and disciples of God's word are not to impose our cultural milieu on the scriptures. Our current western world is in much turmoil and confusion in regards to our roles of political correctness, Covid, sexually, and equality. I believe that a sound conservative interpretation of the Bible can help lead us through these times, and not only guide us in following God's correct will but keep us from many of the contemporary pitfalls that await us.
