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עֵ֖זֶר understanding עֵ֖זֶר

Palrmine

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I'm taking the opportunity to challenge my understanding of the Bible and I find myself in Genesis 2:18. This is where God looks for a suitable helper for Adam.

The word used for "helper" is "
עֵ֖זֶר" or "ezer".

The best translation I am seeing is the verb "to help" and the addition of the noun "help" which is implicitly plural. So I'm wondering why it was translated to "helper" which is singular.

For reference we have these concepts in English:

Help - verb. Any number of people perform any number of actions to assist any number of people.

Helper - noun. A singular person who helps

Help - noun. Multiple people who help. I.e. "The help"

One more point to be made, Adam is refered to previously as "mankind" in the English which is also implicitely plural.

Any help understanding the Hebrew would be much appreciated. Thanks!
 
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Very interesting line of inquiry, Palrmine.

@IshChayil ?...
 
Just something to throw in the pot:

I think I borrowed this originally from Stephen Clark (Man and Woman in Christ), but when God says man needs "help", then makes him a woman, we assume that the point there is to create this soulmate, one-on-one, "you and me against the world" life companion, because that's what we're raised with. Another way to look at that is that God gave Adam a life-giving, baby-making companion with the potential to co-create many children, which would be the real source of Adam's help.

And of course a plural or more generalized understanding of "help" opens the door to more than one woman as well as children as being more what God had in mind than just Eve by her lonesome....
 
I'm taking the opportunity to challenge my understanding of the Bible and I find myself in Genesis 2:18. This is where God looks for a suitable helper for Adam.

The word used for "helper" is "
עֵ֖זֶר" or "ezer".

The best translation I am seeing is the verb "to help" and the addition of the noun "help" which is implicitly plural. So I'm wondering why it was translated to "helper" which is singular.


For reference we have these concepts in English:

Help - verb. Any number of people perform any number of actions to assist any number of people.

Helper - noun. A singular person who helps

Help - noun. Multiple people who help. I.e. "The help"

One more point to be made, Adam is refered to previously as "mankind" in the English which is also implicitely plural.

Any help understanding the Hebrew would be much appreciated. Thanks!

The actual Hebrew is Ezer-Kenegdo a weird term meaning a help-mate that helps by OPPOSING from the word NEGED...hmmm iron sharpening iron?
 
The Biblical name Azar is Hebrew in origin and its meaning is to surround, help, protect, aid, succor.

Azar is pronounced aw-zar'.

Azar is the Hebrew word for help, helper and succor used in the Bible.

Azar is also compounded with the Name of G-d to form proper names like Abiezer (father is helpful), Ahiezer (helpful), Azarel (whom the L-rd protects), Azriel (the L-rd is my help), Azrikam (protects against the enemy), Azariah (whom the L-rd strengthens), Ebenezer (stone of strength), Eliezer (G-d of Succor), Yoezer (G-d is his strength), Romamtiezer (I have exalted his succor)

Edit: Maybe this can give you an avenue to look at the word ezer.
 
right and we also have to consider the neged part with the Ezer part.
 
The actual Hebrew is Ezer-Kenegdo a weird term meaning a help-mate that helps by OPPOSING from the word NEGED...hmmm iron sharpening iron?
So I started at studing up on Kenegdo.

Kenegdo could also mean “in front of” or “opposite.” I read it explained as being “exactly corresponding to,” like a mirror reflection.
So Ezer-Kenegdo could be read as strength reflected to him.
 
Nice job very true..opposite the reality or an image...nice
 
Its is also possible that ezer meant help, succor, strength all at the same time.

Our wives help us in day to day life, give us succor (assistance and support in times of hardship and distress), and our wives reflect the strength we find in G-d back to us.
 
I'm taking the opportunity to challenge my understanding of the Bible and I find myself in Genesis 2:18. This is where God looks for a suitable helper for Adam.

The word used for "helper" is "
עֵ֖זֶר" or "ezer".

The best translation I am seeing is the verb "to help" and the addition of the noun "help" which is implicitly plural. So I'm wondering why it was translated to "helper" which is singular.

For reference we have these concepts in English:

Help - verb. Any number of people perform any number of actions to assist any number of people.

Helper - noun. A singular person who helps

Help - noun. Multiple people who help. I.e. "The help"

One more point to be made, Adam is refered to previously as "mankind" in the English which is also implicitely plural.

Any help understanding the Hebrew would be much appreciated. Thanks!

So the word you've referenced most plainly means "help / assistance". To even say "helper" is massaging the text a bit to make it sound more "correct" in English.
If the text wanted to explicitly designate that the wife is functioning in the role as "helper" we would expect to see this inflected in one of 2 ways:
1. בעזר bªʿēzer "as help" (this is similar to how some modern scholars choose to interpret בצלם bªṣelem as "as an imager" i.e. we are to be imagers of G-d [google Dr. Michael Heiser for more on this]); the beit indicates an office or position syntactically.
2. עוזרה ʿōzªrāh "a helper" (this kind of noun functioning as a position / job title is derived from the participle of the verb from which you mentioned above).
Another indication that G-d is *not* suggesting the job title "helper" for a wife is that the noun is presented in it's masculine form. This to me makes sense if we are to think of the abstract interpretation "assistance" or "help" in general; there is no need to make the noun feminine.

So as regards our merry group of men, the verse does not have any kind of a tone of monogamy indicated or even a single role defined for the woman; just as all humans are to be "imagers of G-d" i.e. acting out the role, fulfilling the role/office as His representative on Earth, so to each woman/women are to be "assistance" for their man.
The word "help/assistance" here doesn't go so far as to suggest polygamy; I would say it's more unspecified. So while this verse can not be used against us to demand monogamy, it's also not much of an apologetic verse for our side either.

Hope this helps,
shalom
 
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So while this verse can not be used against us to demand monogamy, it's also not much of an apologetic verse for our side either.
I'm not sure about that. Some MOA's point to Gen 2:24 where (Adam) uses "wife" in the singular, and then argue that "one wife" is the pattern that we're required to follow. I think we can use v18 as another way to counter the v24 argument; point out that if El were intimating (thru Adam) that monogyny is His ideal, then I can only expect that He would have been consistent about that in v18 where He says what He's going to do and why; and not leave the "what" open to a multiplicity of helpers. We can also observe that El was speaking in v18, *before* the man spoke in v24. Who's word carries more weight? Edit; I'm sorry, that was my mistake. I just read Matthew 19:4-5, and it seems to indicate that El was the one speaking, and not Adam, in Gen 2:24.
 
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So I started at studing up on Kenegdo.

Kenegdo could also mean “in front of” or “opposite.” I read it explained as being “exactly corresponding to,” like a mirror reflection.
So Ezer-Kenegdo could be read as strength reflected to him.
Yeah נגד neged is really hard to nail down...context is very important for this word.
one can stand neged the bank of the Jordan (on the other side / opposite) so in spatial relationships it can be "opposite of" which is sometimes awkward in English. Sometimes it's used as a synonym for לפני lifnē (in front of, before)
נגד השמש neged hašemeš means "in open daylight", literally "before the sun".
In the bible's wisdom lit. it's sometimes used to mean "contrary" (Job and Qoheleth) which I'm certain is not the meaning implied here in Genesis!
I think your reflection idea is possible @Kevin if you make a footnote for your translation justifying your deeper interpretation and supplying the reader with the plain meaning as well.
To make sure anyone who cares knows, it's like 3 words here forming כנגדו kªnegdō
we have khaf, כ prefixed meaning "like, as" then we have our infamous neged then the suffix ḥolem ו ō meaning "his". So pseudo-literally something like "as his other side" as you hinted at but the term is not so rigid as we may like it to be. Rabbinical interpretations run off with kªnegdō as a term in and of itself as a term for a wife's function....
maybe you want to dig in your talmud some and let us know what you find?
 
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The Biblical name Azar is Hebrew in origin and its meaning is to surround, help, protect, aid, succor.

Azar is pronounced aw-zar'.

Azar is the Hebrew word for help, helper and succor used in the Bible.

Azar is also compounded with the Name of G-d to form proper names like Abiezer (father is helpful), Ahiezer (helpful), Azarel (whom the L-rd protects), Azriel (the L-rd is my help), Azrikam (protects against the enemy), Azariah (whom the L-rd strengthens), Ebenezer (stone of strength), Eliezer (G-d of Succor), Yoezer (G-d is his strength), Romamtiezer (I have exalted his succor)

Edit: Maybe this can give you an avenue to look at the word ezer.
Did you get Ezrah?
עֶזְרָא ʿezrāʾ
It's kind of a short form of Ezrael (El is help).
One of the psalms comes to mind with "Hashem ezratah li" (Hashem is help to me)
 
Did you get Ezrah?
עֶזְרָא ʿezrāʾ
It's kind of a short form of Ezrael (El is help).
One of the psalms comes to mind with "Hashem ezratah li" (Hashem is help to me)
Yes sir, I tried to select a variety of names with the different ways ezer is used in them the post.
 
https://markfrancois.wordpress.com/2013/07/22/עֵזֶר-כְּנֶגְדִּוֹ-ezer-kenegdo-in-genesis-218/

maybe you want to dig in your talmud some and let us know what you find?
Genesis 2:18

"And G‑d said, 'It is not good that man is alone. I shall make for him a compatible helper.'"

"The Holy One willed that man should be without woman for a brief period, and then afterwards introduced her to him, so that she would be dearer to him after he had felt life so lacking without her."(Chizkuni on Genesis 2;18).

Genesis 2:20-24

"But for Adam there was not found a helper who was compatible…and the rib which G‑d had taken from man, He built into a woman and brought her to the man. And Adam said, this is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh…Therefore a man shall leave his parents and cleave to his wife."

"In the animal kingdom, the male animals do not cleave to the female animals, but rather the males come to any female that they find to procreate. The Torah is underlining a distinction here between humanity and other creations. The first female was necessarily an actual part of man's own flesh, which makes him want to cleave to her and always be with her. This is instilled in the nature of men that a son leaves his father and mother to build a life with his wife, whom he regards as the closest one to him, as though he and she are one flesh."(Nachmanides on Genesis 2:24)

From Rabbi Frand's words on Parsha Bereishs 5758

Netziv: The 'Unlucky One' (Lo Zacha) Is the One With The Docile Wife The pasuk says, "It is not good for man to be alone, I will make for him a help-mate, opposite him" [Bereishis 2:18]. We are all familiar with the Rash"i on this pasuk. Rash"i asks, "Which is it? Is the woman supposed to be a 'help-mate' or is she supposed to be one who stands 'opposite' - in opposition - to her husband?"
Rash"i answers, "If a person has the merit to marry the right woman, she will be a help-mate, if not she becomes his adversary." The Netziv, at the Sheva Brochos of his own granddaughter (who married Rav Chaim Soloveitchik), gave his own insight (virtually the inverse of Rashi's interpretation) into this same dilemma. The pasuk in Mishlei states, "For the way of all man, is correct in his eyes..." [Proverbs 21:2].
Every person thinks the way he does things is correct. A person cannot see his own faults and weaknesses. We are our own biggest friends, but on the other hand we are blind when it comes to judging whether we do right or wrong. And yet, we cannot always trust an outsider. We don't always know if that person has our best interests at heart. How does one get around this dilemma? Who loves me enough that I can be confident that this person will have my best interests at heart, but on the other hand is, at the same time a different person, who can maintain an objective opinion?
The Netziv said that to alleviate this problem, G-d created separate genders - G-d created women distinct from men, and He created the institution of marriage. It is the woman -- one's wife, who loves her husband as he loves himself, and yet has the advantage of objectivity. She has the advantage that she can stand back and tell her husband "What you are doing is not right." That is the wonderful quality of marriage. This is the interpretation of "a help-mate, opposite him."
The way she becomes the help-mate that G-d had in mind, the way she fulfills her destiny as a help-mate is by being the "K'negdo," by being "opposite" every once in a while, and telling her husband "No Way!" Otherwise, how is a person to know if what he does is right or wrong? If every man thinks that he is correct in his own eyes [Mishlei ibid.], who will ever tell him when he is in fact wrong?
Therefore, the Netziv said, the woman who stands opposite her husband, at times, telling him that he is wrong, becomes his biggest help-mate. Unfortunately, if a person marries a woman who is a 'Yes- Woman,' a docile and servile wife who never takes it upon herself to show her husband where he is wrong, that is a situation of "Lo Zacha" -- he was not lucky. This is what the Netziv told his granddaughter, when she married Rav Chaim Soloveitchik


Edit: I would like to add that a man who marries a woman who always stands against him is also an Unlucky one. There's a difference in a wife relaying to us an opinion different than the one we have and refusing to submitting.
 
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I would like to add that I see the Talmud, as great source for getting a look at ancient Hebrew cultural beliefs and Etymology of the Hebrew language. There is a lot of wisdom there but also there are some wrong teachings. I see no difference in the opinions an interpetations of the Old Sages of the Talmud and the opinions and interpretations of the Old Sages of this Forum.;) There are Greater arguments, lesser arguements, wisdom and misinterptations we try to work through.
 
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