11 February 2021

The man gave names to all cattle, and to the birds of the air, and to every animal of the field; but for the man there was not found a helper as his partner. 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 its place with flesh. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man.
Genesis 2: 18-25, NRSV

Just as in the first Genesis account of creation, we again hear of how God includes man in the act. God brings all that he creates to man for him to name. The naming of the animals brings God’s creation to completion and gives man a relationship with them. Having named these creatures, man will likely want to care for them. However, there is nothing amongst all that has been created that will make a suitable companion for him. God sees that it is not good for man to be alone. God wants to create a “helper” for the man. In doing so, God is not creating a subservient human since the Hebrew word for helper translates to something more like “ideal partner”. It is in fact a word sometimes used in describing God. We are told of how God lovingly shapes the man’s rib into a second human just as he had shaped man from the soil. When the man awakes, he sees and immediately knows that this is what he has longed for. The bond he feels is so strong that he describes the woman as “bone from my bones and flesh from my flesh”.

• • Why do you think God wanted man to have a complementary partner?
  • What relevance does this account of Creation have for our world today?

Pray today for those who lack the joy of human companionship.