If we define “suitable helper” as the secondary helping the primary, the servant helping the leader, then we have a problem, and that problem is God. Let’s look at what the text says in Genesis 2:18:

The LORD God said,
“It is not good for the man to be alone.
I will make a helper suitable for him.”

Perhaps it’s worthy noting that man it was not good for man to be alone. He was not doing well. So in God’s love, he created woman as a “helper” to bring help where the man was struggling.

And this is where the meaning gets distorted from the original text. In some languages, the word “helper” means a secondary person helping a primary person. This implies that the primary person is the most important, and the secondary is in service to the primary. This text has been used often in regards to the role of women.

In Hebrew the word is ezer means helper. The helper is one who brings strength where there is weakness. And here’s the defining factor: It is a term that is used of God helping Israel.

If the word ezer means secondary and subservient to the primary, a servant to the master, then this would make God as the secondary and servant of Israel. And God makes it clear throughout Scripture that He is above all and is Lord Most High, Creator of the Heavens and Earth. He is not underneath Israel.

In Hebrew, a helper is one who brings strength where another has weakness. Consider the following where the word ezer is used.

• Moses named his son, “Eliezer, for he said, “My father’s God was my helper (ezer); he saved me from the sword of Pharaoh.” (Ex 18:4)

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• David says in the Psalms, “We wait in hope for the Lord; he is our help (ezer) and our shield” (Ps 33:20)

• “You are destroyed, Israel, because you are against me, against your helper” (Hosea 13:9),

Now it is true that ancient Israel had become so accustomed to God being their helper that they felt like they could sin freely. They presumed upon God to be their helper. Even some prophets proclaimed falsely that God was all about peace and they would be fine (Jer 14:13). God would deliver them.

But God was not their servant to be summoned with the ringing of a bell. It didn’t work that way. And they ended up in Babylon captivity because they refused to repent of their sin and respect God for who He was to Israel.

God as a “helper” (ezer) was not second best in His value, His position, or His role. He never gave up His ability to have free will in decision making. He, as an entirely separate entity, was positioned to provide strength where there was weakness. But he was never Israel’s slave.

He was their strength.
It was a partnership.
Neither had to compromise value.

The implications are significant. Some have defined “helper” as someone who is the servant and the secondary to the one being served, rather then their strength. This is especially true when it comes to the role of a woman or a wife.

If someone claims that the primary role of a woman is to be a wife and/or a woman that primarily serves a man’s ambitions, goals, work or even ministry, then the understanding of the word “helper” has been skewed to mean something it does not.

Just as God in the role of “helper” does not make Him secondary or somehow less in position or role as a helper, neither does it make a woman or a wife secondary to men. She has equal value, position and giftedness and is actually, according to the Hebrew understanding of the Word, bringing strength to where he would not be successful on his own.

This is the Hebrew meaning of “helper.”