Helpmeet

by Shelly
(Guyana)

In our free women's Bible Study, The Helpmeet Dilemma, we talked about the true meaning of the word, and how much of what God originally intended to reveal to us through it had been "lost in translation." Here is Shelly's reaction to our free lesson on what it really means to be a helpmeet.

When I first learned of the word helpmeet. I was a bit puzzled because I wondered what was expected of me. But, after I thought of Ezer, I realized that God wanted me to be a woman of strength and destiny.

I think that God's desire for me is to fulfill my purpose here on earth and here is where I need to start working on my weak areas as a woman.
Shelly

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Eve
by: Linda

I took note of the last phrase in Shelly's comment 'as a woman.' We do not apologize for being a woman. God set man and woman to have different roles to 'play' in this life. We all have need to use our talents and gifts to make changes in our lives for the better.

Genesis 2:18 - Help meet: The traditional teaching for the woman as help (meet) is that of assistant or helper subservient to the one being helped. However, if we go back to the original language we see a different meaning. Oxford Eng. Dic, ezer: even with or equal to. Biblical scholar David Freedman offers the Hebrew word (ezer) from two roots: to rescue-to save and to be strong. Help is not the original interpretation. Ezer appears 21 times in the Old Testament. The word “k’enegdo, another Hebrew word used in Genesis 2:18 to describe Eve, appears only once. Freedman pointed out that in late rabbinical commentaries k’enegdo means “equal” and stated that in his view “there is no basis for translating k’enegdo as ‘fit’ or ‘appropriate,’ as the traditional translators do when they describe the woman as a ‘fit helper’. Thus, it seems that through imprecise translation, our understanding of the powerful words used originally to describe Eve’s role have been diminished…If humankind historically had accepted this more careful and correct interpretation, perhaps attitudes, laws, and customs would be different, and the relationships that God intended between men and women.” (Beverly Campbell, "Eve, and the Choice Made in Eden", 23-24; David Freedman, Woman, 56)

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Submitted by: Linda

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I took note of the last phrase in Shelly's comment 'as a woman.' We do not apologize for being a woman. God set man and woman to have different roles to 'play' in this life. We all have need to use our talents and gifts to make changes in our lives for the better. Genesis 2:18 - Help meet: The traditional teaching for the woman as help (meet) is that of assistant or helper subservient to the one being helped. However, if we go back to the original language we see a different meaning. Oxford Eng. Dic, ezer: even with or equal to. Biblical scholar David Freedman offers the Hebrew word (ezer) from two roots: to rescue-to save and to be strong. Help is not the original interpretation. Ezer appears 21 times in the Old Testament. The word “k’enegdo, another Hebrew word used in Genesis 2:18 to describe Eve, appears only once. Freedman pointed out that in late rabbinical commentaries k’enegdo means “equal” and stated that in his view “there is no basis for translating k’enegdo as ‘fit’ or ‘appropriate,’ as the traditional translators do when they describe the woman as a ‘fit helper’. Thus, it seems that through imprecise translation, our understanding of the powerful words used originally to describe Eve’s role have been diminished…If humankind historically had accepted this more careful and correct interpretation, perhaps attitudes, laws, and customs would be different, and the relationships that God intended between men and women.” (Beverly Campbell, "Eve, and the Choice Made in Eden", 23-24; David Freedman, Woman, 56)

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