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2016 Ezer like front of him - Helper The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper like [the] front of him" (Genesis 2:18). The rib The most common word for "rib" in the Old Testament is al-ah. In Daniel 7:5 the word translated as rib is al-ah, so why wasn’t it used in the Genesis account of the creation of the female? Instead the Hebrew word tzela (feminine form) has been used.
Most examples of tzela can be found referencing some aspect of the temple and the arc, the whole side of the tabernacle: the supporting beams, walls, sides of the innermost chamber, the holy of Holies. It sounds like the word that we have translated as rib should really be side, or side chamber. The side The word for side is tzad. It is used here: “And ten thousand will fall at your side” (Psalm 91:7).An inner chamber? Because the normal Hebrew word for rib wasn't used in the Hebrew account of creating the female, nor the normal word for side, perhaps she was formed from some part of Adam that was more than physical. It doesn’t seem to be just a rib, so could it have been an inner chamber of the Adam? In other parts of the Bible the word tzela is used when talking about places with spiritual connotations, like part of the tabernacle of God, a sacred part, the inner chamber, the Holy of Holies.About 2000 years ago Jewish, Philo Judeaus wrote that the rib was a "symbol of the part, a half of the whole, each party, the man and the woman, being as sections of nature co-equal for the production of that genus which is called man." (The Works Of Philo, p. 796,Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody, Massachusetts,) Even if you think "rib" is the translation, it is a part that surounded and protected the Adam's vital organs. The helpmate Who was the helper God created for Adam? She certainly wasn't just a spare rib that the Adam could do without. None of the creatures the Adam had dominion over were suitable. He needed someone like himself who wasn't under his dominion. He was alone without community, even though he had a relationship with his creator. Does her function as, helper like the front of him, tells us what God had in mind?
The Hebrew word "ezer" often translated as " helper" or "helpmate" is the masculine form of the word and is used in a number of places to speak of God (The Lord my helper Psalm 54:4). It's made from the letters for an eye, sword/plough and head. Eve Now God had named "them", the male and female, "Adam". After they sinned, Adam no longer viewed the woman's function as helper like the front of him. He renamed her, ignoring God's part in creating him. He named her like he named the animals he had dominion over. Did he exclude himself from all living? He blamed her for what had happened to him. Was he thinking she had given him the life he now had, or was he thinking he was now dead. She had caused a separation, a wall between that which had been joined (tent peg meaning is sometimes "joined") and no longer was an eye. Did he replaced her prophetic eye with and accusing 'see!' Behold the separated tent peg or behold the one who separated that which was joined? Was he the tent peg and she the tent? Notice the pictogram for eat/consume/destroy is part of the pictogram above it for separation wall, and the tent peg is part of the whole person. Both names contain separation walls. Adam no longer sees the woman as a supporting wall, but a separating wall. Her sees her character as being more like the serpent.
Yet God still clothed them both with priestly garments. The word that is used in Genesis 3:21 is a word that is used for the priest’s tunic, and for virgin daughters of the king. Both were priests, and the shame of their sin covered, so they could continue to relate to God. to be continued ... References in brackets come from the Bible. Some are Jennifer Kathleen Phillips' translations from the Hebrew or Greek.
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