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  • From: Donald Vance <donaldrvance AT mac.com>
  • To: Dianne Burke <biblestudy.burke AT gmail.com>
  • Cc: "b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org" <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Genesis 2:18 "help meet"
  • Date: Sat, 20 Feb 2010 07:19:55 -0600

Your colleague is correct. The Hebrew phrase means "a helper/partner (or some such) who corresponds to him," (i.e., suitable for him). This is actually what the KJV language means as well: "a help meet (=suitable) for him."

Sent from my iPhone

Donald R. Vance
donaldrvance AT mac.com

On Feb 20, 2010, at 1:27 AM, Dianne Burke <biblestudy.burke AT gmail.com> wrote:

Hello,

I was discussing this verse with a colleague and he mentioned something that
I can't quite understand and just wanted to verify if he's right and ask for
your understanding of the Hebrew. Basically he says that "help meet" is not
the proper rendering in Gensis 2:18.

My colleague says that the word is not "help-meet". He goes on to say that
"God said he would make a help, "meet for" the man, i.e. matching up to him
and his needs."

In my limited knowledge of Hebrew, I said help meet is from one hebrew word:

5828

05828 `ezer {ay'-zer}

from 05826; TWOT - 1598a; n m

AV - help 19, help meet 2; 21

1) help, succour
1a) help, succour
1b) one who helps

My colleague's response was to say that's a shame. He says that there is an
error in the English-Hebrew indexing of the text in the Online Bible. It
fails to show the other Hebrew word that's there at the end of 2:18 - there
definitely is one!

He also says that as a secondary proof of the point,that I should note that
there are no italics at that point in the KJV, if "meet for him" or even
just "for him" were an insertion into the English not backed by Hebrew, the
KJV would have put those words in italics.

He goes on to say that the Hebrew for "help meet for him" comprises two
word-forms, עזר כנגדו, which transliterate (note: Hebrew reads
right-to-left) as 'ezr kngdw'. Here 'ezr' is the word "help" that you listed
the lexicon summary for, and 'kngdw' is a compound of the prefix 'k' meaning
"as", the word 'ngd' (5048) and the suffix 'w' meaning "him".

He showed me that the word 'ngd' is used as the OLB lexicon lists:

05048 נגד neged neh'- ghed

from 05046; ;{ See TWOT on 1289 @@ "1289a"}

AV-before, against, in the presence, about; 23

subst
1) what is conspicuous, what is in front of

adv
2) in front of, straight forward, before, in sight of
3) in front of oneself, straightforward
4) before your face, in your view or purpose

with prep
5) what is in front of, corresponding to
6) in front of, before
7) in the sight or presence of
8) parallel to
9) over, for
10) in front, opposite
11) at a distance

prep
12) from the front of, away from
13) from before the eyes of, opposite to, at a distance from
14) from before, in front of
15) as far as the front of

Then he concludes by saying that the last Hebrew word-form in Genesis 2:18,
though sadly not indexed by the OLB, has a sense along the lines of "as
in-front-of him", which the KJV has given as "meet for him".

I have never heard anything like this before and I was wondering if you guys
could help me understand Genesis 2:18.

I look forward to your help.

Dianne Burke
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