The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him. Gen. 2:18, NIV
For nearly all of world history, both societal and church, women were viewed as inferior beings created to serve men. Until the last quarter of the 21st century the church language concerning the genders was that of male superiority and female inferiority when it was changed to “equal but different roles.” Much of that concept of women is due to this one verse: women were created to be a helper suitable to the man. It has given rise to a powerful assumption well articulated by a friend that “the relationship between men and women is one of powerful protector and weaker dependent with little recognition of the strength that women bring to a life lived together.
It is not surprising that the modern church still wrestles with this assumption. Church Fathers have longed viewed women as inferior to men. Thomas Aquinas once wrote that “woman is defective and misbegotten.” He also spoke of the “weakness of her nature, both of mind and of body” as the reason woman was subject to man. Many church fathers came to the conclusion that the only help a woman was to a man was for procreation.
“I don’t see what sort of help woman was created to provide man with, if one excludes procreation. If woman is not given to man for help in bearing children, for what help could she be? To till the earth together? If help were needed for that, man would have been a better help for man. The same goes for comfort in solitude. How much more pleasure is it for life and conversation when two friends live together than when a man and a woman cohabitate?” -Augustine, De genesi ad litteram, 9, 5-9
The creation of woman out of man is the climax of the creation narrative in Genesis 2. The woman was created to be an “ezer kenegdo.” After we look at this phrase, we realize that rather than being an inferior subordinate, the woman was to be a strong powerful assistant, equal to the man.
Let’s start with the noun, “ezer.,” the Hebrew word used for “helper.” We routinely use the word ‘helper’ without any indication of heirarchy or subordination. As followers of Jesus, we are called to serve others, but in that serving—helping—we do no become subservient to those we serve. So, by itself, we can acknowledge that be created as a helper in no way implies subordination.
When we look at the usage of “ezer” in the Old Testament, we find no reference of the word “ezer” that refers to an inferior, but always to a superior or an equal. The Hebrew language has four other words for helper that denote subordination but these aren’t used in reference to the woman in Genesis 2.(1) The word chosen, ezer, expresses that woman was created as a strength/help who rescues or saves man. “Ezer” is used 21 times in the Old Testament: twice in reference to Eve in Genesis, three times in reference to help needed in life-threatening situations(Is 30:5, Ez 12:14, Dan 11:34), and sixteen times it is used in reference to God’s rescuing power.
O Israel, trust in the Lord! He is their help(ezer) and their shield. O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord! He is their help(ezer) and their shield! You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord! He is their help(ezer) and their shield.(Ps. 115: 9-11)
Blessed is he whose help(ezer) is the God of Jacob…Ps. 146:5
Happy are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the Lord, the shield of your help(ezer), and the sword of your triumph!!(Dest. 33:29)
In these passages, God as “ezer” was not subordinate to Israel. In the three passages referring to a rescuing help, or help needed in life-threatening situations, no subordination or subservience is implied. According to Old Testament usages of “ezer,” the creation of Eve as an “ezera” was not to create a helper for Adam who was subordinate or subservient.
Paul refers to the creation narrative in his letter to the Corinthians when he reminds them the reason for the creation of woman.(1 Cor. 11:9) In his commentary on 1 Corinthians, Kenneth Bailey says, “It was not Eve who was lonely, unable to manage, and needed help. Instead it was Adam who could not manage alone. Eve was then created as an ‘ezera'(feminine of ezer). The Hebrew word for ‘ezer’ is often used for God when God comes to help or save Israel. [It] does not refer to a lowly assistant but to a powerful figure who comes to help/save someone who is in trouble…Women are not created “for men,” that is, for their bed and board. Rather women, as descendants of Eve, are placed by God in the human scene as the strong who come to help/save the needy(the men).(2)
“Kenegdo” is the prefix “k”(comparison), the preposition “neged,” and the suffix “wo”(him). What is the comparison between the helper and Adam? The preposition “neged,” which literally describes physical relationships; it refers to “the front” or “the visible.”(3) God made for the man a helper “in front of him.” This does not suggest under or subordinate, but rather a superiority or equality, or “corresponding to.”
Genesis 2 does not reveal that the woman is inferior or subordinate to the man in her creation, nor is it implied in the text. Translators of the Septuagint made sure to express this same concept of equality with the use of the Greek word “kata” followed by the direct object which signifies horizontal rather than perpendicular direction.(4) Both the Hebrew and Greek texts reveal the equality and similarity of the woman to the man. The phrase “ezer kenegdo” reveals the role of the woman is that of a rescuer with a strength corresponding to the man, equal to him. Nowhere in the creation narrative do we read that the duties of the “suitable helper” are different than, inferior to, or subordinate to, that of the one she helps.
“Adam’s plight was that while he remained alone, he was only half the story. The image of God in him, itself the imprint of the nature of God, yearned for the presence of a counterpart without whom there could be no community and therefore no fulfillment of God’s design. Eve was created precisely to “help” him become with her the community of oneness that God had intended for both of them to be together.”(5)
Only with woman is the man able to fulfill the mandate to fill the earth and subdue it, and rule over the creatures. Only together can they fully represent the Godhead on the earth. Woman was not created to serve man, but to serve with man. She has a strength that corresponds to his…complements him. Woman created as an “ezer kenegdo” reveals God’s original design in His creation was gender equality…for complementarity without hierarchy.
Biblical Support for Egalitarianism: Equality in Eden
Footnotes:
- Gilbert Bilezikian. (2006). Beyond Sex Roles. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, div of Baker Publishing Group, Kindle Edition.
- Kenneth E. Bailey. (2011). Paul Through Mediterranean Eyes: Cultural Studies in 1 Corinthians. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, p. 310.
- Aida Besancon Spncer. (1985). Beyond the Curse. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, div. of Baker Publishing Group, p. 23
- Philip B. Payne. (2009). Man and Woman, One in Christ: An Exegetical and Theological Study of Paul’s Letters. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan. p. 44.
- Gilbert Bilekikian. (2006). Beyond Sex Roles. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, div. of Baker Publishing Group, Kindle Edition.