Genesis 2:18 The False Doctrine of "Help-meet" Theology



And YHWH ELOHIYM said It is not good that audawm[1] (the man) exist alone I will make an ezer[2] (help) neged[3] ( Counterpart [an equal and opposite])[4]


[1] The name 'adam H120 Pronounced “audawm” is the name God gave to both the first man and the first woman; the entire human race, homo-sapiens in general; mixed crowds in the Hebrew are also referred to as 'adam. In Genesis 2:18, the word 'adam, refers to the man, before the creation of the woman, but is not yet being used as a proper name exclusively for him. The use of 'adam as a proper name for the man alone did not occur until after The Fall. Before The Fall, both the man and the woman were called 'adam. The words 'iysh  (for the man) and 'ishshah (for the woman) are also used to differentiate between the female and male in the second chapter of Genesis, though in later biblical usage, mixed crowds are referred to as 'adam, 'iysh, or 'ishshah. Context alone must determine who or what is being referred to in these instances.

[2] The word ezer H5828 (meaning help or succour) is used of God himself in Psalm 33:20, so translating this word as helper with the connotation of subordination is misleading at best and deceptive at worst. 

[3] The word, neged, H5048, is also erroneously translated. It does not mean “for him,” as most translators have it. Young’s Literal Translation correctly reads “counterpart.” Gender-biased-English-translation-theology transforms ezer neged as “help meet for him” or “helper suitable for him.” From this verse, in the old English, the compound word “help-meet” has come into existence and wide usage. But there is no such word or compound word as “help-meet” found in the Hebrew. The old English used the word “meet” instead of words such as “appropriate” or “suitable,” but the word “meet” or “suitable” is not found in the Hebrew for Genesis 2:18. The last part of the verse (help [or helper] meet [or suitable] for him) in most English Bibles is pure fabrication on the part of translators. 

[4] In a literal reading of Genesis 2:18, there is no textual basis for the complementarian teaching that God’s female creation was created to be subordinate to his male creation. Aside from tampering with the Hebrew text and applying gender-biased-English-translation-theology to this verse, it cannot be inferred that God created the man and woman to be functionally unequal. And even the most dogmatic of complementarian teachers admit that no hint of female subordination can be found in the entirety of the first creation account found in Genesis One. 


...  ...The study entitled, Trinity Marriage and the Godhead, examines and refutes the theory of hierarchy within the eternal Godhead (Charles Stanley claims the entire foundation of male headship teaching is based upon a hierarchal Godhead). 


 

This is an excerpt from the Hungry Hearts Bible Commentary HHBC

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