Boy Meets Girl-Gen. 2:18-25

Though many believe the temptation of the serpent and resulting failure of Adam and Eve in Genesis 3 to be the first crisis recorded in all of the Scripture, there is one that proceeds even this. It involves man’s loneliness prior to the creation of woman. Though the Garden of Eden on day 6 was a perfect place, it was not yet complete until man met woman for the first time and entered into a special relationship. In Genesis 2:18-25, we read about how this episode of “boy meets girl” unfolds by means of four actions God takes on man’s behalf.

God Recognizes a Need-2:18-20

Everything God created up to this point in the Genesis account has been identified as either “good” or “very good” by Him. However, here, in verse 18, God describes something as “not good” –“Then the Lord God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone’” (2:18a). Man needed a companion. The skies had the celestial bodies and the birds, the sea had the fish, the land had the animals and mankind; however, mankind was not yet complete in and of itself. While everything else had what it needed to serve its function, mankind was missing something integral to his.

It is important to acknowledge that God is the one who makes this evaluation of the human condition. This demonstrates that God understands what is good for man better and before even he does concerning his own condition.

However, what is so bad about being alone? As man is made in God’s image, he was created to be in relationship (inasmuch as God exists in relationship with himself and is therefore a relational being). Therefore, for mankind to maximize his creative potential, not only is he to have a relationship with his Creator, but he is also design for relationship with other co-equal members of the creative order. As the animals were not equal to mankind in either form, dominion, personality, intellect, or constitution, mankind was missing a necessary ingredient required to make him whole—someone to relate to on a personal level. “Isolation is not the divine norm for human beings; community is the creation of God” (Matthews, 213).

Another reason that mankind was incomplete by himself involves the calling upon him to “be fruitful and multiply” and by proxy “fill the earth and subdue it…” (1:28ff). This, no matter how hard Adam may have tried, could not be executed on his own.

Thankfully, God does not just identify this incompletion, He seeks to rectify this lack and provide mankind with what He calls a “helper”—“I will make him a helper suitable for him’…” (2:18b).   Before one misinterprets the term “helper” here to mean something less than what Adam was, consider this: God himself is called a “helper” often in the Psalms (Pss. 20:2-3; 12:1-2; 124:8). Moses even speaks of God as his “helper” (Ex. 18:4). Therefore, though “helper” is intended to convey a sense of support and aid, it is NOT to connote inferiority to Adam.

That this is the case is supported by the phrase “suitable for him” (2:18b). This indicates correspondence between man and woman and equality between the two in terms of their constitution. In other words, woman is just as human as man is (made in the image of God as a radically unity of spirit and body with all of the blessings and responsibilities appertaining thereunto).

With these considerations in mind, it is incumbent on the responsible reader of this text to conclude that “there is no sense derived from the word [helper] linguistically or from the context of the garden narrative that the woman is a lesser person because of her role…In the case of the biblical model, the ‘helper’ is an indispensable ‘partner’ required to achieve the divine commission” (Matthews 214).

Though God recognized this need for mankind in the beginning, Adam fails to do so until sometime later. Before woman was created “Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what He would call them, and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name” (2:19). This description is used by Moses to convey two things. First, it contrasts the creation of all of the creatures in this world with the unique creation of woman. Though all of the beasts were formed “out of the ground” and even Adam was “formed…of dust from the ground” (see 2:7), woman is created in a very different way.

Second, that Adam named all of the creatures is one illustration of his dominion /rule over them as a superior created being (inasmuch as he alone is made in the image of God)—“the man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field…” (2:20a). To this day, in many situations, naming something gives the “namer” authority over that which is named. This is exactly what is being depicted here. Adam’s naming of the animals suggests that he was their manager.

However, eventually on that first busy day of Adam’s existence, in the midst of the parade of animals that were trotted out in front of him, he eventually realized “there was not found a helper suitable for him…” (2:20b). Here, Adam catches up to where God already was in understanding that for him to really do his job and subdue the earth as instructed, he required help of the most important kind.  Due to her unique beginning and distinction as human, woman “is not of the order of the animals over whom the man is to dominate; she will share in the responsibility of dominating the creative order” (Matthews 215-16). However, for the time being, like a dancer without a partner, Adam stood there unable to fulfill God’s calling.  

God Fashions a Woman-2:21-22

“So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place,…” (2:21). Woman is created as a result of a surgical act of God. As in any surgery, the one operated on is put to sleep—here called a “deep sleep.” Once asleep, God alone goes about His work in creating the woman. His tool is a rib taken from Adam’s side. This demonstrates that she was of the same substance as the man and underscores the unity of the human family—having only one source.

 “The Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man…” (2:22). Much care and craftsmanship was used to form the first woman. “Fashioned” depicts God here as a builder who constructs the woman from the raw resource derived from the man. The word used here is a frequent term for building edifices, but it occurs only once in early Genesis—here. As with “formed” in the description of Adam’s creation earlier (2:7), the same kind of care and attention is given to the creation of woman.

The significance of God using the “rib” to fashion woman pertains to the man and woman’s unique fit for one another as companions sexually and socially (as they are made of the same thing—though very much different).

Following this special creative act, God “brought her to the man.” This suggests that woman was a gift. She is both Adam’s first gift and greatest gift—better than the stars, sea, trees, fruit, animals, rivers, etc. With the advent of the woman the garden became a true paradise as it was at that point that God’s creation became complete.

God Introduces Woman to Man-2:23

Upon receiving this gift, Adam, I imagine very enthusiastically exclaims, “”this is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh…”(2:23). Immediately, Adam is able to recognize that this woman, unlike all of the other creatures, was like him and therefore capable of relating to him personally, intimately, etc. and, by proxy, capable of helping humanity reach its fullest potential and satisfy the calling of God. The first ever community was created in this first ever episode of boy meets girl.

Upon meeting her, Adam names her, “’she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man’…”(2:23b). This is an act of leadership and authority, but not of the same kind as Adam demonstrated over the animals, for, the woman is given a name that is a variation of Adam’s own—“woman.”

Adam explains the meaning of her name in the last clause of verse 23—“because she was taken out of man” again highlighting her source. However, commentators have also noted the wordplay between adam (“man”) and adama (“ground”) at 2:7 and 3:19 and ish (“man”) and isha (“woman”). The ending “-a” indicates feminine gender in Hebrew. However, the “–a” ending also on occasion indicates direction—specifically “to” or “toward” (Jobling, Meier). In the case of adam—adama, “man” returns to the “ground” during the lifespan. In the case of ish—isha, “man” moves toward the “woman”  in the context of marriage when he is “united to his wife” and they “become one flesh” (Matthews, 219). This conclusion is supported by the final action God takes in this passage.

God Constructs an Institution-2:24-25

In God’s final creative act of chapter 2, He constructs a sacred institution—marriage—“For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh” (2:24). Other translations render this verse “a man shall forsake his father and his mother and cling to his wife.” This suggests that within the context and process of marriage, one loyalty is severed while another one commences (Hamilton, 181). That the man is the leaver and cleaver again suggests a leadership role as, at least as this verse is portrayed, he is depicted as making the initial sacrifice of separation.

Not only that but “be joined to” or “cling” conveys a covenantal relationship shared between the husband and wife. Monogamy is clearly intended as “leave” and “cling” are terms commonly used in the context of covenant, indicating either covenant breach or fidelity (see Deut. 10:20; 11:22; 13:18;  28:20; 30:20; Josh. 23;8 Hos. 4:10). In other words, the emphatic terms demonstrate that the bond of marriage is especially powerful and significant—not a happenstance contract thrown together and easily ripped to shreds.

Once committed to each other, the two “become one flesh” (2:24). In other words, the husband and wife do not leave their parents to an isolated or independent existence, but to a dependency and responsibility toward one another. “’One flesh’” echoes the language of v. 23, which speaks of the woman’s source in the man; here it depicts the consequence of their bonding, which results in one new person” (Matthews, 223). As I often say in the marriage ceremonies that I conduct—“no longer are you a man or a woman, you are a husband and a wife. This means that your very identity as husband is wrapped up in your relationship to her as your wife and yours as a wife in your husband.” Two becoming one is illustrated in human sexuality in which two individuals form one expression of love and union. Though physical intimacy does not exhaust all that marriage is, it is an illustration of this point.

The institution created in the context of the perfect garden was a wondrous thing to behold. This much is conveyed in the next verse—“and the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed” (2:25). The original audience associated nakedness with guilt or shame. However, because there was no sin in the world, even Adam and Eve’s bare bodies were nothing to blush at; they were a beautiful expression of the freedom and openness afforded them in the perfection of Paradise and in the context of their marriage.

So What?

In this passage, the first ever crisis is answered in the most brilliant way. Adam’s need for a companion and helper to aide in achieving his God-given calling is met with the most uniquely made creature yet—woman! In so doing, God creates a community in which mankind is able to thrive and an institution by which mankind is able to procreate and subdue the earth! In addition to all of the principles concerning marriage and unity that this passage obviously endorses, something even more fundamental is being communicated here. When God comes through, He does so in abundant ways! Here, in the midst of Man’s loneliness, He gives mankind a helpmate and establishes an entire program for others to follow in which the human race can enjoy the very same kind of relationship that Adam and Eve shared here. This passage also serves to highlight mankind’s need for relationship. Whether God allows you to seek relationship in the context of marriage or in a community of believers, recognize that it is not good for men or women to be alone. They are designed to relate to one another and, together, relate to God.