Rethinking "Helper": Unpacking the True Meaning of Ezer in Genesis 2

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Through calm, thoughtful, theological discussions, Thinking Christian highlights the ways God is working in the world and questions the underlying social, cultural, and political assumptions that hinder Christians from becoming more like Christ. Now, on to today's episode of Thinking Christian. Hey everyone, welcome to this episode of Thinking Christian. I'm your host, James Spencer, and today we're rethinking a commonly, maybe misunderstood word in Scripture, helper. So in Genesis 2.18, God says, It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper fit for him. That word helper translates the Hebrew word ezer. And that sparked debates about what it means for the woman to be in this role and how the relationship between men and women is designed to function. And I think too often this term has been misunderstood as sort of in the in the vein of sort of subservience, that women play a lesser role. But I think a deeper look reveals something far more profound. And so we'll go one step further today. And after exploring the term ezer, we'll also address Genesis 3.16 and the part of the fall where God tells the woman that her desire will be for her husband and that he will rule over her. I think to understand that verse, we'll need to draw a connection to the story of Cain and Abel, which uses a similar phrase. What does it mean for the woman's desire to be for her husband and how does that fit into the role of ezer? So one of the key things to understand when we're thinking about ezer is this. While it's often a sort of a difficult term to understand and sometimes it could be construed as subordination, it's used elsewhere in the Bible, paints a very different picture. In fact, ezer is most often used to describe God himself as a source of strength, help and deliverance. And so we can find this Hebrew word and it appears in a variety of texts in the Old Testament and its meaning is pretty consistently tied to this idea of strength, support and aid. It's a way of filling in the gaps of the person you're helping. So it's not subservience or inferiority. I hesitate to say that it's complementary because I don't want this to be mistaken for complementarianism, which is a very specific view about what the woman's role is in the church. And while I would not disagree that this conversation about ezer could be related to that sort of conversation of egalitarianism and complementarianism, I'm not sure that it's helpful to draw that conversation back into an analysis of what really is being said here in Genesis 2. And so what I want to talk about is this sort of mutuality within the relationship that we can almost think of it like puzzle pieces, right? Any one puzzle piece doesn't give you the full picture. You need multiple puzzle pieces put together in order to see the whole picture. That's similar to what I see happening with ezer. This ezer is going to come in and where the person who needs the help, the person who's being helped, finds shortcomings, the ezer is going to come in and bring strength. And so it does speak to the incompleteness of both partners. Particularly, I would say, when we're talking about the male female relationship. That wouldn't apply, obviously, when we're talking about God. God has no shortcomings. But when we think about what's happening here in Genesis, we do see this mutuality of two relatively incomplete people who need each other to accomplish what God is asking them to do. And so when we look at ezer, it's going to carry these connotations of helping in a way that rescues or sustains or empowers someone in need. And I think far from implying weakness, ezer really does highlight the essential nature of the help provided, whether by God, a person, or even a nation. And one of the more illuminating passages using ezer in Scripture is in reference to God as the helper of his people. And this usage appears multiple times, particularly in the Psalms, where God's role as ezer is linked to his power, provision, and saving presence. So consider just the following passages. Exodus 18.4, the God of my father was my help, ezer, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh. Here ezer emphasizes God's role as deliverer and protector during Israel's time of vulnerability. Then we can look at Deuteronomy 33.29. God is described as Israel's shield and helper. Blessed 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. Ezer here is going to highlight God's strength and defense in times of danger and conflict. Psalm 33.20, God is the helper and sustainer of his people. Our soul waits for the Lord. He is our help, ezer, and our shield. Psalm 121.1-2, a beloved passage where ezer reflects God's sustaining presence. I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help, my ezer, come from? My help, ezer, again, comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth. And in these passages, God as ezer is not weak or subordinate. Instead, he is the all-powerful and faithful rescuer of his people. This is someone that God is someone that his people depend on, that they look to for certain actions and they depend on for to come to their deliverance. And I would say particularly in times of weakness. While ezer refers to God at various points, it's also used in contexts where people or nations provide critical assistance or deliverance. So God is not the only other ezer in scripture. These examples show that ezer consistently conveys the idea of essential and empowering help. So if we look at Isaiah 35, this is going to be about the failed help of Egypt. And so this is almost a negative example of an ezer. It's a weaker partner coming to help an already weak partner. So this verse, Isaiah 35.30.5 reads, Everyone comes to shame through a people that cannot profit them, that brings neither help, ezer, nor profit, but shame and disgrace. And here ezer underscores the expectation of strength and provision from an ally, even though that expectation isn't met. Ezekiel 12.14, We see military alliances in terms of helpers. And here's what it says. And all who are around him, his helpers, ezers, ezarim, I don't know the plural right offhand, but it is the same word ezer. I don't have my Hebrew Bible right in front of me, so I can't give you the exact term. But his helpers is that is the plural form of ezer and all his troops. I will scatter to every wind. And so here what we're seeing is this this connection of ezer to the idea of military support and strength in battle, very similar to some of the references we saw with God. It's just not applied to God directly. This is to, you know, the people who are around who the actual humans and actual military sort of folk who are around and trying to help. We also see something like this in 1 Samuel 7.12. And this is in relation to the Ebenezer. Samuel sets up a stone to commemorate God's help during Israel's victory over the Philistines. And he says this, Till now the Lord has helped us, ezer. The term Ebenezer means stone of help and commemorates God's active intervention and saving power. So if we get back to Genesis 2.18, where God says he will make a helper, ezer, fit for Adam. This broader biblical understanding challenges more hierarchical readings of this text. So we're looking at strength, not subordination, right? The same word that's used to describe God as a helper can't really imply inferiority, essentially. There would need to be something contextually that would apply inferiority or subordination because God is obviously not subordinate to his people. He is committed to his people. He's going to do what he needs to do to help his people and deliver his people. That may open up a range of actions. And I'll talk a little bit about that later, but it certainly does not imply subordination. So the woman is ezer in Genesis 2.18. There's not really anything contextually here that would suggest that the woman is subordinate to her husband by the designation ezer. And so it seems like it's a partner who brings strength, support, and this essential help. It's going to allow the man who was previously alone to move from a position of what God calls not good to a position of good. There's also a sense of partnership, right? The creation of the woman meets Adam's need in a way that empowers their shared mission to fill the earth and subdue it. Now, I think it does more than that. This is not just about procreation, although it certainly involves procreation. But what I tend to see is that

What we have here is that God recognizes this as the naming of the animals. He's bringing all these different pairs of animals to Adam and having him name them. And Adam finds no suitable helper for himself. There's not an animal there that corresponds to Adam and is his partner in what he's about to do. And so that's when God says it is not good for man to be alone. And so you've got this sort of moment where God is going to create a corresponding partner, someone who can help Adam fulfill the destiny that God has for all humankind. So just as God is really his help is indispensable, so too is the woman's role as Ezer. She's not a subordinate, you know, who's just going to go out and do whatever the man says. She is his partner. She corresponds to him. She is going to fill in his gaps and together they're going to accomplish this mission. And I think in light of how Ezer is used throughout the Old Testament, Genesis 2 really portrays the woman as a strong ally, a co-laborer, a partner, some people have said a co-warrior in God's creative and redemptive purposes for humanity. Let me ask you a serious question. If something triggered a major market drop in the coming months, would your retirement be ready or exposed? With inflation, market volatility, and ongoing global uncertainty, more families are taking a closer look at whether their retirement plan is truly built to hold up. And many are finding that adding a layer of protection makes a lot of sense. Sanctuary Metals is a Christian-owned company that helps families strengthen their retirement savings with physical gold and silver through a Gold IRA. During uncertain times, many people look to precious metals as a way to add stability when other assets may be under pressure. If you'd like to explore whether a Gold IRA is a good fit for your situation, Sanctuary Metals makes it easy to get started. Text GUIDE to 94878 to receive your free retirement defense guide or call 888-958-6579 to speak with one of their knowledgeable team members. Again, text GUIDE to 94878 or call 888-958-6579. So, what we've got in the Old Testament, we can say that Ezer refers to someone or something that provides assistance aid necessary due to one's own limitations. So, God can be our helper. We have this idea of relationship and partnership, and that could happen in marriage, friendship, community. The Ezer challenges us to value the strength, support, and indispensable help that the others bring into our lives. And then I think when we look at sort of restoring biblical dignity, the term Ezer elevates the woman's role in Genesis 2 as essential and strong and God-ordained. This is challenging certain cultural distortions that we may have today and affirming the quality and worth of all people created in God's image. Again, as we look at this, what we're not saying is that the male and the female are not distinct. What we're saying is that these two are in a mutual relationship together to uniquely, as God has put them together, to fulfill a particular goal that he has set for them. And so the word Ezer has just far from connoting subservience, points to strength, support, and rescue. It's qualities that describe God himself. And when we understand its broader biblical use, I think we see Genesis 2.18 as a demonstration of the woman's indispensable role in all God wants us to do. Still, there are some major views on this that we probably need to review and just be aware of. So if we look at the scholarship, part of what we find is that there is a subordinate helper view. And the key idea here is that the woman is created as a subordinate assistant to the man, supporting him in his work and mission. And the English word helper has often been interpreted as implying some sort of subordination or inferiority. So the helper language doesn't necessarily convey, I don't think, as well as it might the, the, the sort of true meaning of Ezer. It skews the way we understand it. But I think that view has been, you know, historically, it's been fairly dominant. And it's, it has sort of had its influence. It's a, it's a pretty strongly held view and it's kind of hard to get around. But I just don't see that when we look at all the different references to Ezer in the Old Testament that we could really get there. My preference would be to look at something a little bit more like, you know, one of these other views, which we can see some of these are going to overlap a good bit. But this one is one I would call the co-equal ally view. Here, Ezer signifies a partner or an ally who is going to work alongside the man as an equal partner in purpose and mission. And so, you know, we see this across these various biblical contexts. And the phrase fit for him, which we find in Genesis 2, further suggests equality and complementarity, this sort of mutuality, this idea of filling in the gaps of the other as it literally means corresponding to him or as a counterpart. And so the woman is created not to serve the man, but to share in his calling to steward creation. And I think this aligns better with the biblical use of Ezer and preserves this sort of dignity and quality equality of the woman. Some do argue that this view downplays distinction in roles that may exist between the man and the woman. But again, what I would say is not trying to collapse the distinction between men and women, because even as we look at it and we say, okay, God didn't create, you know, a man and another man or two women. It just wouldn't have worked that way either. What he's trying to do is he's trying to create, if you'll excuse the Eastern reference, a yin and a yang, right? These two things go together, but they're obviously different. They are distinct from one another, and therefore they can be mutually helpful to one another. What one can do, perhaps the other can't, or what one couldn't do on their own, both could do together. And so it doesn't have to downplay these distinction and roles. There's also a view that I'll call the strong rescuer role. Ezer is going to convey this idea of a powerful rescuer deliverer who comes to aid in a critical moment. And, you know, I think given, you know, the way this is used with God, I think in context where we're looking at it from the perspective of God delivering or even some of the military examples that we noted above, this view makes more sense of a lot of the other sort of biblical texts than it does in Genesis 2. It just doesn't make a lot of sense. It suggests that, you know, the woman isn't merely assisting Adam, but really bringing, you know, rescuing Adam in some way. But the context in Genesis doesn't really speak to rescue. It speaks to more of a partnered role. And so I don't know that I would go this way with the strong rescuer view. That isn't to suggest that the woman's role is not indispensable or that the woman's role is not strong here, that Ezer would preclude such things. But I don't know that I would, I would be, you know, a big advocate for, hey, in this context, really what it's talking about is, you know, the woman is made to rescue Adam from the abyss of being alone or something like that. I think that's a little bit of an overread. There's also the complementary partner view. I would say that, you know, while I'm hesitant to use the language of complementarity, it does seem to me to be a helpful language. I think the problem with it is that it's the freight that comes with it. Like I said, the view of the complementarian view of men's and women's roles within the church. I don't want to confuse those, these two, but I think that Ezer does have a complementary aspect to it. And so in this view, what I would say is that Ezer signifies this sort of complementary partner who's different from the man, but works with him in this shared mission. They're partners. The phrase Ezer Kenegdo, which is translated as a helper suitable for him, it implies this sort of complementarity or correspondence, that the woman is like man, even as she is distinct from man. And I think we see this when, you know, Adam sees the woman the first time. He says, ah, this is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh. I shall call her woman before she came out of man. I think what he's recognizing is that this is not me, but at the same time, this is, this is my partner. This is this is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh. This is someone who is made specifically for me. And there is a complementary idea to that. So I think that, you know, that that more rigid reinforcement of specific gender roles within the church is something I want to avoid. I just don't want to discuss it, at least not in this podcast. And so as we're thinking through the idea of Ezer, though, complementarity of some sort, I think is important to keep in mind. The view that I would tend to lean toward and the way I would sort of summarize the way I think about this is it's a partner in a mutual mission, right? Ezer indicates a co-worker in the shared mission of stewarding God's creation. They're going to work together to do what God is asking them to do. And the creation of the woman in Genesis 2.18 follows the command in Genesis 1, 26 through 28 for humanity to exercise dominion over the earth. So the woman is created as a partner to fulfill that mission together. And I think this view emphasizes that the man and a woman are both created in the image of God. We see that in Genesis

Creation underneath the authority of God, and it avoids these debates about hierarchy. It may downplay certain gender-specific aspects of the relationship, but I'll be honest, as long as we maintain the distinction between male and female, I don't see that Genesis is actually prescribing specific gender roles in this context. If anything, what we've just said is that, yes, the woman is the Ezer, but that is the woman's role. She is the Ezer. And I think that, you know, going much further than that and suggesting that, okay, and here's how the Ezer was structured, you know, there was a hierarchy, and the Ezer sat under the... You know, I just don't see that in Genesis. And so, the most we can do is really try to understand Ezer very thickly and try to understand that Ezer doesn't necessarily mean subordination. I would argue that it means partnership, support, correspondence, these ideas we've talked about. So, what can we say about the male and female relationship in Genesis 2.18? Well, here's what I would say. First, we need to just recognize the woman is not subordinate. The relationship between the man and the woman is mutual. She fills in the man's gaps and serves as his partner in accomplishing the task given to humanity. Second, we need to affirm the distinction between male and female. The Genesis narrative clearly recognizes that male and female are different, and to establish mutuality, there really has to be a distinction. Third, the Genesis narrative does not define the woman's role via specific activities. In other words, it doesn't offer any insight regarding the sorts of tasks that are, you know, we might construe as feminine or masculine. The role of Ezer may involve a range of activities that support and or supplement the male counterpart. It's not a passive, but an active role that may look different in different contexts. Let me ask you a serious question. If something triggered a major market drop in the coming months, would your retirement be ready or exposed? With inflation, market volatility, and ongoing global uncertainty, more families are taking a closer look at whether their retirement plan is truly built to hold up. And many are finding that adding a layer of protection makes a lot of sense. Sanctuary Metals is a Christian-owned company that helps families strengthen their retirement savings with physical gold and silver through a gold IRA. During uncertain times, many people look to precious metals as a way to add stability when other assets may be under pressure. If you'd like to explore whether a gold IRA is a good fit for your situation, Sanctuary Metals makes it easy to get started. Text GUIDE to 94878 to receive your free retirement defense guide, or call 888-958-6579 to speak with one of their knowledgeable team members. Again, text GUIDE to 94878 or call 888-958-6579. You know, it's not out of bounds, and I don't think the Bible ever sort of gestures toward this, but I'll say it as an example. You know, we have all these different military examples of the way God acts as Ezer in the Old Testament. But, you know, ultimately, Christ humiliates himself. He humbles himself, right, in being made man in the incarnation. And, you know, if we could construe that as an act of the Ezer, what's happening there is that God is now helping us in the way that we need to be helped. He's doing what he needs to do in order to serve the needs of his partner here. And he's doing that graciously. And so that's what I mean when I say that the Ezer doesn't have to be, you know, the strong person in the room, nor does the Ezer have to fulfill only feminine, what we might consider to be feminine tasks or something like that, but that the Ezer is there to do what needs to be done to support their partner. And so I think that's an important way of understanding this. Now, all of this is taking place prior to the fall, and we are going to get to Genesis 3, 1 through 7, where we'll talk about the fall and its effects. But it's important, I think, to deal with one of those effects here. So after the fall, there's this change in the relationship between Adam and Eve. And I personally think that the change in the relationship suggests that my, you know, this reading of Ezer that I've given above is probably pretty accurate. As I've said before, it wouldn't be my view if I didn't think it was the right view. And so I really try to sort of hone in and get these things as right as I possibly can. And it's not that my views don't change, but at the end of the day, stuff has to fit together. So after the fall, we see this change between Adam and Eve. And the change is really described in Genesis 3, 16. And that text reads, to the woman, he, God said, I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing. In pain, you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be contrary to your husband and he shall rule over you. Now, this verse often raises questions about what the desire and rule language means. Some have taken it to suggest a divinely prescribed hierarchy between men and women. But a closer look at the Hebrew and its context tells a slightly different story. I think the word desire here appears in only two other places in the Bible. One of those is just a chapter later in Genesis 4, 7, when God speaks to Cain and he says, if you do well, will not you be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you. You must rule over it. So we see the repetition in Genesis 4, 7 of desire and rule. And in both passages, these words are tied to this sense of longing or drive that is not necessarily positive. In Genesis 4, 7, sin's desire for Cain implies a desire to control, to dominate, to possess him, to act contrary to Cain. In other words, to push Cain, to own Cain in a way and draw him away from what he is supposed to do, draw him away from the good. And God warns Cain that he's got to resist this or rule over that sin. He has to resist being owned by sin, pulled away by its desire for him. So I think when Genesis 3, 16 says this, you know, your desire shall be for your husband, the similarity in phrasing suggests that this isn't about romantic attraction or a healthy longing for partnership. Instead, it implies a post-fall struggle for dominance, control in the relationship. And when I say that, here's what I mean. If the woman was created to be a co-equal partner with Adam accomplishing what they were supposed to do as human beings, as given to them by God, what I think is happening is that there's a degree of resentment that occurs now. We might think of it this way. Where the woman is going to act not as the Ezer, but she's going to act as, we might say, the anti-Ezer. She's no longer going to be there to support her partner. She's going to act in ways that hinder this relationship, that hinder the mission, that hinder the male from doing things. So no longer is she going to come in and be that helper and rescuer and that strength, that piece that fills in the gap. She's going to refuse to do that. And so then the male's counterpart, he's got to resist these counter-tendencies of the woman. He's got to rule over this desire, rule over what the woman is trying to do so that he can continue to move forward on God's plan. But I think the point of this text is not to say that, you know, the man is automatically going to have this hierarchical relationship over the woman, but to say that in order for the mission to continue what was a harmonious relationship where two complementary people are coming together to accomplish something God has given them, now that relationship is going to be fraught with frictions. And that's going to create resentment and frustrations and difficulties. And all of this just got much harder. The mission hasn't changed, but because the relationship is now broken, I think that's the part that we really want to focus in on. And so I would say that the idea that, you know, this desire and this ruling are really related to that. We need to read it from the perspective, I think, of Genesis 4, 27. Because the fall doesn't really change God's design for men and women, but it does introduce this tension and brokenness into their relationship. And where the Ezra role was really meant to reflect God's strong and supportive partnership within humanity, it now becomes entangled in power struggles and selfishness and a desire to go one's own way. And so I think the phrase, your desire should be for your husband, points to the ways sin affects relationships, making them places of conflict rather than cooperation. And this distortion is evident throughout history, from cultural hierarchies to personal struggles in relationships. But I think the story doesn't end in Genesis 3. Through Christ, the effects of the fall are being undone. And in Christ, the partnership between men and women can be restored to reflect the mutuality and harmony of God's original intent. I think we see some of this in, like, Galatians 3, 28, where it emphasizes the equal dignity of men and women in Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Ephesians 5, 22 and 33 calls both husbands and wives to reflect Christ-like love and submission in their relationship. And I think the call for husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the church directly counters the distortion of domination that some people see in Genesis 3, 16. I think the

the church, and the effects of the fall, including the power struggles described in Genesis 3.16, these tensions that result, can be healed through the transforming work of Christ. So as we reflect on Ezra and on Genesis 3.16, I think two themes emerge. Again, similar to what we had last time, it involves a dignity and a responsibility. The woman's role as Ezra is not that subservient role, but one that fulfills in the gaps in the male counterpart. It mirrors the way God himself acts as helper and sustainer of his people. And at times, God acts with strength to assist his people, but we should not miss the fact that Christ also humbled himself to serve others. In a similar way, the woman's role as Ezra may involve a range of activities, none of which imply subservience or diminish the woman's dignity. Being an Ezra is not that passive activity. It requires strength and wisdom and active engagement. And the fall disorders this role, but in Christ, it can be restored. So what does it mean for the woman to be an Ezra? It's not about this idea of subordination, but it's about partnership. It's about mutuality. It's about the man and the woman working together and doing what only they can do together. And while Genesis 3.16 shows us the brokenness that sin brings into the relationship, it also points us to the hope of restoration in Christ. And I think some of the New Testament texts that deal with the male-female relationship really help us understand what's trying to happen there. It's trying to reconstitute in Christ this true Ezra relationship between man and woman. So as you reflect on this, I just say consider how your relationships, whether in marriage or friendships or the church, can reflect God's original design for partnership and cooperation. How can you embody the dignity and responsibility of the Ezra role in your own life? How do your male-female relationships line up with this? How do we really understand all of this really applying within our marriages if you're married or in our working relationships with other people in the church? How do we think about mutuality as part of the context of God's mission? That's it for today. Thanks, everybody, for joining us here on Thinking Christian's Prepped series. Join us next time as we discuss the fall and the fall narrative in Genesis 3, 1-7. Take care, everyone. Just want to take a second to thank the team at Life Audio for their partnership with us on the Thinking Christian podcast. If you go to lifeaudio.com, you'll find dozens of other faith-centered podcasts in their network. They've got shows about prayer, Bible study, parenting, and more. Hi, I'm Rachel Adams, host of The Love Offering podcast, where we explore how to live out the greatest commandment, to love God, love others, and even love ourselves. Each week, my guests and I share stories of how God's love transforms us and overflows into the lives of those around us. Whether through small acts of kindness or powerful moments of faith, we're learning how to make love our greatest offering. Tune in to The Love Offering podcast available on lifeaudio.com and all podcast platforms.