Equally Powerful
From the reading of an incredible book by Marvin R. Wilson, Our Father Abraham, Jewish Roots of the Christian Faith, I have learned a powerful truth about God's magnificent creation, which we call "woman."
"The Lord God said, 'It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.'...So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field. But for Adam no suitable helper was found." (Genesis 2:18, 20 NIV)
The word "helper", found in this passage of Scripture comes from the original Hebrew word ezer. Ezer is often translated "helper." But according to Hebrew scholars the word actually means "power" or "strength," just as it is used elsewhere in the Hebrew Scriptures.
The phrase "make a helper suitable" in the original Hebrew is, "ezer kenegdo," meaning "a power equal to him," which is found in other ancient Hebrew writings.
This tells us that the woman was not merely created to be the man's "helper," but to be a "powerful partner" with him. She is neither less nor more than he; they are "One Equally Powerful Flesh."
Forever learning,
Johnny
5 comments:
Aww...that's nice. God's smart.
That is nice. Too bad our society has been shaped for hundreds of years with the notion that women are not equal to men... with that very notion coming from that passage in the Bible. I bet if there were originally women who helped translate the texts into English, they would have translated it correctly! Instead, we have a country that is ruled by a bunch of upper-class, white males. Sorry... I am getting onto another topic now... nice post, Johnny!
Thanks Stephanie,
Don't apologize. We need to get away from all of the imposed translations that have indoctrinated God's people for far too long.
I'll do my part to seek for answers and I hope you will spread the word.
Thank you, yet again, for clarifying things that seem to mean one thing, but they actually mean another. We're recovering from generations of misinformation.
If you don't know or haven't studied Hebrew, then it's almost impossible to really read into the meaning of this stuff and truly "get it."
It's scary to think of how many people there are out there teaching the Word, but have no idea what it REALLY says. This is very damaging. The problem with church is that we've become dependent on someone else reading the Bible to us... or at least their interpretation. So if our teacher says that 2 + 2= 5, then it it must be correct. Right?
Very enlightening, Johnny. Good stuff.
in a perfect world...no one would ever think someone is beneath them or their 'helper'. my heart aches for the lost years where men reduced women due to this verse. i know they are sensing your words and rejoicing that someone finally took the time to understand what was being said. thank you for your efforts to understand what is being said.
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