Bible Commentary | Genesis 2:18

Genesis 2:18 (CSB) Then the LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper corresponding to him.” 

"helper"

See word study | 5828: helper (ezer)

ESV “Helper fit for him.” 

NIV "helper suitable for him"

NKJV Study Bible (Gen 2:18): Some have thought that the term is demeaning, but it simply means “one who helps,” and in fact is used to describe God when He comes to our aid (see Ps. 33:20; 115:9, 10, 11). It does not refer to someone who is secondary or inferior. 

NIV Study Bible (Gen 2:18): “Ezer means ‘help’ or assistance.’  It is a term often used to describe God’s gracious activity on behalf of his people (e.g., Ps 20:3; 115:9–11; 121:1–2; 124:8). The word does not, therefore, communicate the idea of inferiority.  Rather, it suggests help and assistance beyond the recipient’s own ability.”   

NIV Study Bible (Gen 2:18): The first term (‘ezer) means “help” or “assistance.” It is a term often used to describe God’s gracious activity on behalf of his people (e.g., Ps 20:3; 115:9–11; 121:1–2; 124:8). The word does not, therefore, communicate the idea of inferiority. Rather, it suggests help and assistance beyond the recipient’s own ability. 

ESV Study Bible (Gen 2:18): “Helper” (Hb. ‘ezer) is one who supplies strength in the area that is lacking in “the helped.” The term does not imply that the helper is either stronger or weaker than the one helped.

Gene Getz “A helper is one who shares man’s responsibilities, responds to his nature with understanding and love, and wholeheartedly cooperates with him in working out the plan of God.”  The Measure of a Woman 

Anne Ortlund talks about becoming a team with your husband, pointing out that being a team eliminates any sense of competition between spouses.  She describes a wife being solidly behind and supportive of her husband.  She declares, “I have no desire to run parallel to Ray, sprinting down the track in competition.  I want to be behind him, encouraging him.”  Raymond and Anne Ortlund, The Best Half of Life 

Elizabeth George says, “Realizing I am on assignment from God to help my husband opened my eyes.  According to God’s plan, I was not to compete with Jim.  Instead, I am to be solidly behind him and supportive of him.  He is the one who is supposed to win, and I am supposed to help make his victory possible.”  A Woman After God’s Own Heart, p. 59 

Julie Nixon Eisenhower wrote about Mamie Eisenhower, the wife of former president Dwight D. Eisenhower.  “Mamie had seen her role as one of emotional support for her husband….  She had no interest in promoting herself.  Most of all, she was the woman behind the man, the woman who proudly proclaimed, ‘Ike was my career.’”   

Elizabeth George said, “Oh, I have many things to do, but my primary purpose and role each day is to help Jim, to share his responsibilities, to respond to his nature, and to wholeheartedly cooperate with him in God’s plan for our life together.”  A Woman After God’s Own Heart, p. 60 

Elizabeth George writes that to be her husband’s helper means that her assignment from God is to ease her husband’s life by helping him.  A Woman After God’s Own Heart, p. 61 

In her book, A Woman After God's Own Heart, Elizabeth George writes about how to be your husband’s helper: 

1. Make a commitment to help your husband.   
2. Focus on your husband.  God wants us wives to focus our energy and efforts on our husbands – on his tasks, his goals, his responsibilities. 
3. Ask him two questions daily: What can I do for you today?  What can I do to help you make better use of your time today? 
4. Ask of your actions, “Will this help or hinder my husband?” 

John Piper and Wayne Grudem write, “It is true that God is often called our ‘helper,’ but the word itself does not imply anything about rank or authority.  The context must decide whether Eve is to ‘help’ as a strong person who aids a weaker one, or as one who assists a loving leader… God teaches us that the woman is man’s ‘helper’ in the sense of a loyal and suitable assistant in the life of the garden.”  Recovering Biblical Manhood & Womanhood, p. 87

Piper and Grudem write, “The man is to love his wife by accepting the primary responsibility for making their partnership a platform displaying God’s glory, and the woman is to love her husband by supporting him in that godly undertaking.”  Recovering Biblical Manhood & Womanhood, p. 102.

Piper and Grudem write, “And in marriage the man heads the home for God and the wife helps him to fulfill the divine calling.” Recovering Biblical Manhood & Womanhood, p. 103. 

Piper and Grudem write, “’But,’ someone will say, ‘doesn’t hierarchy in marriage reduce a woman to the status of a slave?’  Not at all… On the contrary, what Biblical headship requires and what slave-holding forbids is that the head respect the helper as an equally significant person in the image of God.”  Recovering Biblical Manhood & Womanhood, p. 104.

Kostenberger writes, “Moreover, in the case of the woman, Gen 2 does not teach that she may merely act as the man’s ‘helper’ when she so chooses but rather that serving as the man’s helper sums up her very reason for existence in relation to the man.  Being the man’s ‘helper’ is the purpose for which the woman was created, as far as her wifely status is concerned.” God, Marriage, and Family, 26.

Bruce Wilkinson writes, “God didn’t say He was going to make Adam a housekeeper, a trophy, a sexual plaything, or a mother for his children.  Rather, God revealed He had in mind a perfect compliment who would be sovereignly designed, equally loved, perfectly suited for the man’s needs, mercifully provided for the man’s loneness, uniquely gifted to make a beautiful life together with him.”  Experiencing Spiritual Breakthroughs

Bruce Wilkinson writes, “A helper is someone who comes alongside to meet the needs of another.  She supplies what is lacking, nurtures, protects, and lends support where the other is weak or faltering.”

Bruce Wilkinson writes, “When the husband has a need, the helper’s role is to bring all of the resources possible to fulfill that need quickly and fully.” Experiencing Spiritual Breakthroughs

Bruce Wilkinson writes, “If the husband’s welfare is the wife’s main charge, then the most important question she should be asking him is, ‘How can I help you better than I am right now?’” Experiencing Spiritual Breakthroughs

Bruce Wilkinson writes, “I can’t tell you the number of husband who tell me that their wives have no idea what they’re going through, what their deepest needs are, or where more support might be called for.” Experiencing Spiritual Breakthroughs

Bruce Wilkinson adds that the main way that a woman is a helper to her husband is as homemaker (Experiencing Spiritual Breakthroughs).  For more on the concept of homemaker, see: 

• Proverbs 14:1
• Proverbs 31:27
• 1 Timothy 5:14
• Titus 2:4-5
• "manage their households" (oikodespoteo) -- Greek Word Study
• "homemaker" (oikouros) -- Greek Word Study

God is often described as "helper" in the Bible.

• John 16:7
• Hebrews 13:6

"corresponding to him"

See word study: 5049: corresponding to (neged)

ESV Study Bible (Gen 2:18): Can be translated fit for him or matching him.  

NIV Study Bible (Gen 2:18): The second Hebrew term (kenegdo) is translated as “suitable” and consists of three parts: (1) a preposition meaning “like,” “as” or “according to”; (2) a noun meaning “something or someone that is in front of or corresponding to something else”; and (3) a pronoun suffix meaning “his.” The combination of these three grammatical components in this context roughly translates to “someone according to his correspondence.” This suggests someone God fashions for the man who would correspond to him.

Kostenberger writes, “Also, the woman is described as a ‘suitable’ helper.  In context, this distinguishes her from all the other creatures named by the first man, who were all judged unsuitable complements for him.  By contrast, the woman is equal to the man in kind, a fellow human being; yet she is also different, the man’s helper.” God, Marriage, and Family, 26.