Genesis 2:18

And the Lord God said,.... Not at the same time he gave the above direction and instruction to man, how to behave according to his will, but before that, even at the time of the formation of Adam and

And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. It is not good that the man should be alone , [Hebrew, lªbadow (H905), in his separation or singleness - i.e., alone].

The Lord God said, or, had said, to wit, upon the sixth day, on which the woman was made, . Not good; not convenient either for my purpose of the increase of mankind, or for man’ s personal comfort, or for the propagation of his kind. Meet for him; a most emphatical phrase, signifying thus much, one correspondent to him, suitable both to his nature and necessity, one altogether like to him in shape and constitution, disposition and affection; a second self; or one to be at hand and near to him, to stand continually before him, familiarly to converse with him, to be always ready to succour, serve, and comfort him; or one whose eye, respect, and care, as well as desire, , should be to him, whose business it shall be to please and help him.

Genesis 2:18 And the LORD God said, [It is] not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.Ver. 18. And the Lord God said.] Had said; to wit, on the sixth day when he made man, and there was not a meet help found for him. Then God said, "It is not good," &c., and so created the woman by deliberate counsel, as before he had done the man. Only there it was in the plural, "Let us make," here, "I will make"; to show the unity of the essence of the Trinity of persons. It is not good for man to be alone.] It is neither for his profit, nor his comfort. The Hebrews, in their bigger Genesis, say, He who wanteth a wife, wanteth a help, a joy, a blessing, an expiation: R. Josua saith, he wants a name: R. Levi addeth, he wants life: R. Hija, the son of Gamri, saith, he is no perfect man who is unmarried: R. Iose saith, such a one is without a wall, without glory, riches, a crown, favour. I will make him a help meet for him.] Or, such another as himself, of the same form for perfection of nature, and for gifts inward and outward; one in whom he may see himself, and that may be to him as an alter-ego, a second self. Such a one as may be a help to him - both for this life, (1.) by continual society and cohabitation; (2.) for procreation and education of children; - and for the life to come, (1.) as a remedy against sin; (2.) as a companion in God’ s service. Nazianzen saith, that his mother was not only a meet help to his father in matters of piety, but also a doctress and a governess; and yet he was no baby, but an able minister of the gospel. Budaeus, that learned Frenchman, had a great help of his wife in points of learning; she would be as busy in his study as about her housewifery. Placilla, the Empress, was a singular help to her husband, Theodosius, in things both temporal and spiritual. And so was our King Edward III’ s Queen, a lady of excellent virtue, the same that built Queen’ s College in Oxford. She drew evenly, saith the historian, with the king her husband in all the courses of honour that appertained to her side, and seemed a piece so just cut for him, as answered him rightly in every joint. εφυγονκοκονευροναμεινον - Athenis in nuptiis dici solitun. Zenod. Proverb. ουσυνεργοςμονοναλλακιαρχηγοςεγενετο - Naz. in Pat. Epitaph. Non tractat negligentius libros meos quam liberos. - Daniel’ s Chron. fol. 262.

(18) It is not good . . . —In these words we have the Divine appointment of marriage, and also the declaration that the female is subsequent in order of production to the male, and formed from him. In Genesis 1:27; Genesis 5:2, the creation of male and female is represented as having been simultaneous. She is described as “a help meet for him:” Heb., a help as his front, his reflected image, or, as the Syriac translates it, a helper similar to him. The happiness of marriage is based, not upon the woman being just the same thing as the man, but upon her being one in whom he sees his image and counterpart.

Verse 18. It is not good that the man should be alone] לבדו lebaddo; only himself. I will make him a help meet for him; עזר כנגדו ezer kenegdo, a help, a counterpart of himself, one formed from him, and a perfect resemblance of his person. If the word be rendered scrupulously literally, it signifies one like, or as himself, standing opposite to or before him. And this implies that the woman was to be a perfect resemblance of the man, possessing neither inferiority nor superiority, but being in all things like and equal to himself. As man was made a social creature, it was not proper that he should be alone; for to be alone, i.e. without a matrimonial companion, was not good. Hence we find that celibacy in general is a thing that is not good, whether it be on the side of the man or of the woman. Men may, in opposition to the declaration of God, call this a state of excellence and a state of perfection; but let them remember that the word of God says the reverse.

18–25. The Creation of Animals and of Woman 18. It is not good, &c.] Man is created a social animal. His full powers cannot be developed by physical and mental work alone; nor his moral being by self-discipline in solitude. His faculties and his character require to be expanded and beautified by the duties of domestic and social life, as a member of a family, as a friend, as a fellow-worker, as a citizen. To be alone is not “good”; it does not promote his fullest life, or his best service. an help meet for him] “meet”: or answering to. The word “meet” means “suitable,” or “adapted to.” The Lord God will make for man a “help” corresponding to his moral and intellectual nature, supplying what he needs, the counterpart of his being. “Help meet,” which has become a recognized English word, fails to give the full sense of this passage from which it is derived. Man will find help from that which is in harmony with his own nature, and, therefore, able adequately to sympathise with him in thought and interests. It is not identity, but harmony, of character which is suggested. The word “help” in the Hebrew is ‘κzer, the same as is found in Ebenezer (1 Samuel 7:12): LXX βοηθόν: Lat. adjutorium. “Meet for him” is lit. “as over against him.” LXX κατʼ ? αὐτόν, Vulg. simile sibi. Observe that the versions have “let us make,” LXX ποιήσωμεν, Lat. faciamus, in imitation of Gen 1:26, but inaccurately.

- XIII. The Naming of the Animals Here man’s intellectual faculties proceed from the passive and receptive to the active and communicative stage.

18. Not good that the man should be alone — He was designed to be a social being, capable of holding intercourse with other beings like himself, as well as with God and angels.