Genesis 2:18 - Meaning and Application

Here we see the Creator’s care for man and his fatherly concern for his comfort, (Genesis 2:18). God had already shown that man was under authority by giving him a command, (Genesis 2:16, Genesis 2:17). Now he shows him, for his encouragement in obedience, that he is also a friend and one whose happiness he cares about. Notice how gently God pities his loneliness.

“It is not good that man should be alone.” Though there was an upper world of angels and a lower world of animals, and man stood between them, there was still no creature of the same nature and rank to share his life. He had no one with whom he could speak freely and familiarly, so he could truly be called alone. God, who made him, knew both him and what was best for him better than he knew himself. So God said it was not good for him to remain in that state.

This was not good for his comfort, because man is made for fellowship. It is a joy for him to share knowledge and affection with others like himself, to teach and learn, to love and be loved. What God says here about the first man, Solomon says about all people, that two are better than one, and it is sad for the one who is alone (Ecclesiastes 4:9). If there were only one person in the world, he would have to be very lonely indeed. Perfect solitude would turn a paradise into a desert and a palace into a prison. So it is foolish for people to be selfish and want to live alone in the earth.

It was also not good for the increase and continuance of the human race. God could have made a world full of people at the beginning, as he filled heaven with angels. But the earth would not have been large enough for all of them to live together at once. So God wisely chose to fill the earth through generations, and that meant people had to come from two, male and female. One person by himself remains only one.

God then kindly resolved to provide company for him: “I will make a helper fit for him.” This means a helper suited to him, one of the same nature and rank. It also means one who would live near him and be always at hand. Or it may mean one whom he would look upon with delight and pleasure. From this we learn several things.

Even in our best condition in this world, we still need one another’s help, because we are members of one another, and the eye cannot say to the hand, “I do not need you” (1 Corinthians 12:21). We should be ready both to receive help from others and to give help when there is need. God alone knows our needs perfectly and is fully able to meet them all (Philippians 4:19). In him alone our help is found, and from him come all our helpers. A suitable wife is a helper fit for a man, and she is from the Lord. A marriage is likely to be peaceful when proper fitting guides the choice, and when both husband and wife keep helping each other as their constant aim (1 Corinthians 7:33, 1 Corinthians 7:34).

Family life, if it is good, is enough to ease the trouble of loneliness. A person who has a good God, a good heart, and a good wife to speak with, and still complains that he lacks company, would not have been content even in paradise. Adam had no more than that in this respect, yet before Eve was made, we do not read that he complained. He knew he was not truly alone, because the Father was with him. Those who are most satisfied with God and his favor are best prepared to receive the good things of this life, and they will receive them as far as infinite wisdom sees fit.

Here is also an example of the creatures’ subjection to man, and of his rule over them, (Genesis 2:19, Genesis 2:20). God brought every beast of the field and every bird of the air to Adam, either through angels or by a special instinct that led them to come to man as their master. In this way, God taught the ox to know its owner in advance. He was, as it were, handing Adam the deed and possession of the fair estate he had given him, and placing him in control over the creatures.

God brought them to Adam so that he might name them, and by naming them he would give proof of two things. First, it showed his knowledge, since he was a creature given reason and speech, and so made wiser than the beasts and birds (Job 35:11). Second, it showed his authority. Giving names is an act of power (Daniel 1:7), and receiving them is a sign of submission. The lower creatures, in a sense, paid honor to their prince at his crowning and pledged loyalty to him. If Adam had stayed faithful to God, it is likely that the creatures would have remembered the names he gave them and come when he called them.

God himself gives names to day and night, to the sky, to the earth, and to the sea. He also calls the stars by name, to show that he is their highest Lord. But he allowed Adam to name the beasts and birds as a lower ruler, because he had made man in his own image and gave him some share of his own honor.

This also shows the creatures’ inability to become a true happiness for man, “but among them there was not found a helper fit for him.” Some think these were Adam’s own words, since he saw all the creatures come in pairs to be named. If so, he was likely expressing his need to his Maker: “Lord, these all have suitable companions, but what about me? There is none for me.” It is more likely this was God’s judgment after looking over them all.

He brought them together to see whether any of the many families of lesser creatures could provide a fitting match for Adam, but none could. This shows the dignity and worth of human nature. On earth, nothing like it could be found. All visible creatures were examined, but none could match it. It also shows the emptiness of this world and everything in it. Gather all worldly things together, and they still cannot make a true helper for man. They cannot fit the needs of the soul, satisfy its rightful desires, or keep pace with its endless life.

God would create a new thing to be a help for man, not so much the woman herself as the seed of the woman.