The 'Not Good' Problem
Genesis 2:18-25
The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals. But for Adam no suitable helper was found. So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. The man said,
“This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.”
That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh. Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.
in both creation naratives (chapters 1 & 2) this is the first time that God declares something "not good". What he's talking about is Adam's solitude, which isn't just about existing alone, but his relational deficit. In a world declared by God as "very good," human isolation stands out as somewhat lacking!
Surely this begs the question, was the creation of woman an afterthought? That's a hard one to fully answer but I think at face value it's more of a solution to a specific problem. God isn't fixing Adam's boredom, He's completing humanity's capacity and need for partnership and mutual support.
The Search for a "Suitable Helper"(v18)
What does the original 'Hebrew' scripture say? The phrase *ezer kenegdo* suggests so much more than 'assistance'. For it means a "corresponding strength," an equal, someone who will stand face-to-face with Adam as a complementary counterpart. We don't see thst in the KJV but doesn't that shine a different light on things!
From Parading Animals to Anesthesia (vv19-20)
In v 19 God parades the animals before Adam for him to name. Now this isn't some weird matchmaking attempt, far from it, rather it establishes human authority over creation, whilst at the same time, it highlights what's missing; a helper, an equal for Adam.
The "deep sleep" that God induces isn't mere anesthesia; it much more than that, it's a divine mystery moment! Because in it Adam contributes to his own completion through sacrifice (his rib), yet he remains passive in the entire process!
The first love song, 'Bone of My Bones' (v23)
“This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.”
Adam's poetic recognition of Eve ("bone of my bones, flesh of my flesh") isn't just some biological observation. No, it's the first human declaration of shared essence, identity and completion.
Don't get me wrong, alone isn't wrong, we all can do with some 'me' time now and again, and some of us are more than happy alone all the time!. But most aren't, and for them being alone is incomplete. For most of us to flourish in life we need connection with an equal, a counterpart, or as we say 'the better half" Our differences are designed for partnership and equality, but definetly not for hierarchy!
One flesh means shared destiny." Our union creates a new relational entity where both our individual identities are preserved yet at the same time intertwined.
From side-by-side to face-to-face the 'rib' origin of Eve reveals equality and closeness, not as the misogynists would have you believe, a license for 'superiority and inferiority'. It establishes our fundamental need for deep, equal and loving relationships across all life dimensions.
Make no mistake Genesis 2, presents woman not as some 'Plan B', but as the final masterpiece that makes human community possible. Eve's creation solves the "not good" of isolation by introducing partnership as God's design for our flourishment and completness!
Have a great week, and God bless,
Trev.