Not enough thought is given to why Eve was created in the special manner she was. 1 Corinthians 11 says that the woman is the glory of the man (1 Cor. 11:7) and that she was brought forth through the man (1 Cor. 11:3b) Eve was very much the pièce de résistance of humanity. Being the last formed she was indeed the masterpiece in the creation of humans. Acknowledging this should not in any way demean the beauty and glory of the human male being formed first out of nothing but dust. Humanity in whole is the masterpiece of all creation on this planet. However, who was formed first and who was formed last does not diminish our great need for one another. (1 Cor. 11:11)
11 Nevertheless, neither is man independent of woman, nor woman independent of man, in the Lord. 12 For as woman came from man, even so man also comes through woman; but all things are from God.
Unfortunately, sin has caused us to miss some of the most basic lessons of life. That which comes before supports, protects and promotes the life of what comes after. For what comes after builds upon the former and brings new life to it.
First the heavens and the earth were formed, then light and the waters. Without the heavens and the earth no life could come forth. Without light to contrast darkness and waters to moisten the soil, no new life could be reformed. The plants that grow in the soil and life that grows in the waters support the life of all creatures created after. All of this supports life essentially and the experience of life for humans. Humans cannot exist without all that has come before us. We protect them. We rescue the animals, the plants, the earth, the waters and the atmosphere. We need them. They need us.
This was the lesson that God wanted to impart to the first human before God created the woman. So, God created the man and woman differently than He created the other living creatures. Genesis 2 Because the first human was so perfect and so beautiful, God needed to reveal to him that he had need of an other for life to be full. So God gave the first human a task to perform that would teach him his need. “It is not good for the human to be alone. I will make/produce a help (ezer) as in front of him (kenegdo) (Gen. 2:18).[1] God showed the human his aloneness and proclaimed that aloneness was not good. God promised to produce for the human a help, a rescuer, from this aloneness. This was no accident. This was all planned by God because God knew of the temptations that would come to humanity. After the man realized that the animals had companions and that there was none for him among them, then God formed the woman, the rescuer.
In Hebrew ezer means one who helps, succor (relief, support, rescue). This word is used only 21 times in the OT and most often of God rescuing Israel or humans . [2] Kenegdo, from neged, means what is in front of or facing, corresponding to and implies equality. To correspond to is to be compatible with or equivalent to. Thus, the woman is the rescuer who is like him. This is why the man exulted, not in that the woman was different, but in that she was like him, equal to him. She was “bone of his bones, and flesh of his flesh”. She fit his humanity.
Only the woman is able to save the man from himself. “No man is an island.” [3] Only one not the same yet of the same substance, is able to reflect back (implied in neged “facing”) to the man his lacks. This was understood by some Jews. In the Stone Edition Chumash the following is written in the footnotes for Gen. 2:18.
“A helper corresponding to him. [lit. a helper against him]. If the man is worthy, the woman will be a helper; if he is unworthy, she will be against him (Yevamos 63a; Rashi). Many have noted that the ideal marriage is not necessarily one of total agreement in all matters. Often it is the wife’s responsibility to oppose her husband and prevent him from acting rashly, or to help him achieve a common course by questioning, criticizing, and discussing. Thus, the verse means literally that there are times a wife can best be a helper by being against him. “[4]
While I agree with Rabbi Rashi, I prefer to couch this in terms of a woman rescuing the man by mirroring back to him what he cannot see of himself. Because the woman is equally human yet has some differing qualities she is able to do this better than another man. Not only can a woman see things that a man might not see, her compassions, gentleness and frailties make her a safe one to hear them from as she is not perceived as a threat the way another man could be.
There is more to being alone than just being alone. And there is more to this thing of being an ezer kenegdo than at first glance.
[1] From http://www.scripture4all.org/OnlineInterlinear/OTpdf/gen2.pdf
[2] Ps. 33:20, 70:5, 115:9
[3] A famous line from "Meditation XVII," by the English poet John Donne. Written in 1623, reflecting internal sinfulness and “noting the ultimate interconnectedness of humanity”.
[4] The Stone Edition Chumash contains commentaries from ancient and modern Rabbinic writings. They can be found on Amazon.com.
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