A Daily Genesis

Genesis 2:18-23a

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[B][COLOR=#ff0000]†.[/COLOR] Gen 2:18 . .Yhvh God said: It's not good for Adam to be solitary; I will make a fitting helper for him.[/B]

"a fitting helper" is from two Hebrew words. "Fitting" is from [I]neged[/I] (neh'-ghed) which means: a front, i.e. part opposite; specifically a counterpart, or mate. The word for "helper" is from [I]'ezer[/I] (ay'-zer) which means: aid.

Note that aid isn't spelled with an "e" as in aide; so that Eve wasn't meant to be either Adam's servant, nor his assistant; but rather, his assistance-- in other words; his aid as in first aid. Note that assistance is not spelled the same as assistant nor are the two words synonyms. An assistant does what they're told, while assistance is supportive.

You know what that suggests to me? It suggests that Adam didn't really have it all that easy in his world, and that Eve's companionship made his life a lot more tolerable and worth the living. The helper that God made for Adam would be both his counterpart, and his crutch. In other words: wives are really at their best when they strengthen their men to go out that door and face the big, bad, mean world.

In making a statement like Gen 2:18; God made it very clear right from the beginning that human beings were not intended to live a celibate life. If male human life was packaged in a box of software, one of its system requirements would be Companion. Woman's potential for companionship is the primary reason that God made her-- not for her sex appeal nor for her reproductive value; no, for companionship.

Before God introduced the man to a woman, He first gave the man an opportunity to seek appropriate companionship from among the creatures of the animal kingdom. That route proved futile.

[B][COLOR=#ff0000]†.[/COLOR] Gen 2:19-20a . . And the Lord God formed out of the earth all the wild beasts and all the birds of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that would be its name. And the man gave names to all the cattle and to the birds of the sky and to all the wild beasts;[/B]

Adam gave names to all the beasts of the field, to all the fowls of the air, and to all the livestock. He wasn't tasked with naming aquatic life; only terra life.

The point is, even limiting Adam's task to just beasts, fowls, and livestock would have been an overwhelming task if as many varieties existed in his day as ours; which I honestly don't think did because, for one thing, prior to the existence of humans the earth underwent some mass extinction events. It's believed by some that during the Permian period, 96 percent of all marine species and more than 50 percent of all other species disappeared. Later, at the end of the Cretaceous period, it's believed that another 1/3 of plant and animal species, including the dinosaur guys, went extinct. So that by the time we get to Adam, a pretty good percentage of the original flora and fauna was gone; converted into fossil bones and fossil fuels.

I'm sure Adam loved animals; I mean look: he gave them all names; which is something that people who make their living in animal husbandry try to avoid because the practice can lead to attachments; thus making the situation very difficult when it's time for sale and/or slaughter.

My wife's kindergarten class visits a working dairy farm every year where all the cows and the calves have number tags stapled in their ears. On the books, those numbers are the bovines' names; but in a matter of minutes, my wife's kinders give the little calves real names because it's just in human nature to do that. (I named one White Shoulder because it had an epaulette of white hair on its right shoulder)

But as cute and cuddly as creatures are, they just don't have what it takes to be the kind of companion that a human being really needs.

[B][COLOR=#ff0000]†.[/COLOR] Gen 2:20b . . but for Adam no fitting helper was found.[/B]

That's telling me that people who seek companionship from a pet are out of kilter because pets are unbefitting-- they're a lower form of life than Man; and God didn't create them to be Man's companion, no, He created them to be Man's servants.

[B][COLOR=#ff0000]†.[/COLOR] Gen 2:21a-22a . . So the Lord God cast a deep sleep upon the man; and, while he slept, He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that spot. And the Lord God fashioned the rib that He had taken from the man into a woman;[/B]

The Hebrew word for "rib" is [I]tsela'[/I] (tsay-law') and Gen 2:21-22 contains the only two places in the entire Old Testament where it's translated with an English word representing a skeletal bone. In the other twenty-nine places, it's translated "side"

Eve wasn't constructed directly from the dust of the earth as was Adam. She was constructed indirectly; viz: from a human tissue sample amputated from Adam's body; ergo: Eve got her human life from Adam; consequently any and all human life produced by Eve's body is Adam's human life.

The woman completed the creation of Man; so that Man is actually a composite unity-- a male part and a female part; viz: the man and the woman are opposite sides of the same coin.

It was apparently the creator's deliberate design that all human life be biologically related to a sole source of human life-- the one and only human life that God created directly from the earth's dust; viz: Adam.

Why wasn't Eve given a chance to fit in with the animals before introducing her to Adam? Well, I think it's because men can make do with a soccer ball named Wilson if they have to; but normal women, as a rule, can't. Men and Women share a lot of similarities; but the resolve to go it solo, to be a rugged individual-- to live alone and unloved in the world --is not one of them. There are exceptions, of course; but as a rule, women do not care to live alone and unloved in the world. It's curious, but when we think of hermits; our minds typically think of them as male because female hermits just seem so contrary to nature.

[B][COLOR=#ff0000]†. [/COLOR]Gen 2:22b . . and He introduced her to the man.[/B]

Upon seeing Eve for the very first time, Adam didn't exclaim: Hot diggity dog! Now I can get laid! No he didn't say that at all.

[B][COLOR=#ff0000]†.[/COLOR] Gen 2:23a . .Then the man said: This one at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.[/B]

In other words: finally somebody Adam could relate to; and the expression became a colloquialism. (Gen 29:13-14)

Eve's primary purpose in life was to be her man's best friend; and that is precisely why God made women: to be their husband's buddy. Therefore wives who aren't their husband's buddy are seriously maladjusted; and can only be accepted as cheap goods rather than top-of-the-line in quality.

The one who designed a man said it is not good for a man to live alone. And if it's not good for a man to live alone, then it goes without saying that it's not good for a woman either. If men are supposed to be happier with a woman, then women should be happier with a man. In other words: mankind's designer didn't intend men and women to function independently of each other. They were created to be together; as couples.

So Adam saw in Eve his true counterpart-- a blood relative who was just as human as himself; and one who could truly relate to him, be sensitive to his feelings, and understand his thoughts; something no other creature ever yet has been able to do.

[COLOR=#0000cd]Pop Quiz:[/COLOR] How many friends do people need to dispel feelings of isolation and loneliness? Answer: Just one-- if that one is a supportive spouse. They say dogs are Man's best friend. No they aren't; dogs are beasts. They might bring a man his slippers; but a dog lacks the capacity to nurse a man when he's down with the flu, or sympathize with him when his job is outsourced to cheap labor in India. No; a human being's best friend is a spouse that looks out for them.

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