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the relationship of mankind to the rest of the work of God, but the second reveals more
specifically the man-woman relationship.
In the first account it is only necessary to note that God created mankind "male and
female"; but the second requires it stated that, "Adam was first formed, then Eve", that
the woman was created "for the man" and "of the man", that the man was
"commanded" concerning the garden of Eden before ever the woman appeared on the
scene (I Tim. 2: 13; I Cor. 11: 8, 9; Gen. 2: 15-18). The second record will, therefore,
have more bearing upon the relationship and positions of man and woman.
A help-meet for him.
"Adam was formed first, then Eve" (I Tim. 2: 13). The implications of the order
will be more fully considered when the position of the man is studied. But the woman
was made as "an help meet" for the man; she was created "on account of the man"
(Gen. 2: 18; I Cor. 11: 9).
It is not strictly correct to speak of the woman as man's "help-meet". This has come
about because the two words were "first improperly hyphened, and then taken as one
word" (Oxford Dictionary). The A.V. margin reads, "an help as before him", and the
meaning appears to be "a help corresponding to him", one in whom he would see his
reflected image and hence find his completion. In fact the Septuagint version of the O.T.
at Gen. 2: 20 has:
". . . . . a help like to himself",
and even in the Apocrypha (although it is no part of "inspired" Scripture),
Ecclesiasticus36:24 reads:
"He that getteth a wife beginneth a possession, a help like unto himself, and a pillar of rest."
For Adam it was not good that he should be alone (Gen. 2: 18), but the only true
companion for him could be one "like unto himself", his equal in fact. This much is
surely seen in the choice that the Lord gave to him in deciding for himself who this one
should be.
"And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl
of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them" (Gen. 2: 19).
But Adam, although himself formed also out of the dust of the ground, could find no
complete satisfaction in any other creature made in like manner. The birds and the beasts
brought unto him, although coming equally from the hand of the Creator, were separate
entities; Adam sought one with whom he could feel a closer unity, one whose heart beat
in time with his own. Hence, after Adam had named every creature brought unto him,
thereby indicating to the Lord that none were suitable, at last came the "building" of
woman from a part of his own body (Gen. 2: 19-23).