Ezer Confused?
Billy Stevens – January 26, 2009
Here are the questions I have received about Ezer (pronounced “e-zear”): How come I have never heard about this before? Just what does an ezer do? Are the women supposed to be the “boss” since they are the ezer? Help me my head hurts. The word ezer is the word for helper in Genesis 2:18. The interpretation of this word affects the whole world around you, whether you believe it or not. What can it affect? How about your marriage, children, church, workplace, etc. There are three primary interpretations of this word and all are controversial depending on which camp you are in.
Look at the verse:
‘Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper [ezer] suitable for him.”’
Genesis 2:18 (NASB95)
or in the Hebrew ezer (1598a) rz<[e (±¢zer) is highlighted in blue)
Ezer simply means “help.” It and its derivatives are used around 80 times in the Bible. Sometimes it speaks of a woman helping a man, a man helping another man, God helping an individual, and God helping the nation Israel especially in times of war.
Here is the definition from the Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament.
“¢zer 1. Help, support, helper. (ASV, RSV similar except in Psa 89:19 [H 20] where the RSV reads n¢zer and hence translates “crown.”) While this word designates assistance, it is more frequently used in a concrete sense to designate the assistant. (Cf. Gen 2:18, 20 where Eve is created to be Adam’s help[er].) As to the source of the help, this word is generally used to designate divine aid, particularly in Psalms (Cf. Psa 121:1, 2) where it includes both material and spiritual assistance.” (TDOT)
The three camps are thus:
A. Authoritarian - the woman is a doormat and is to be absolutely subservient to the man in any and everything. She has no voice, no input, and no choice in her life.
B. Egalitarian – There are no difference in roles or responsibilities regarding men and women. They can hold any position and do anything the other can do with the exception of certain biological functions (men can’t have babies, etc.). This position holds that God has not ordained the man to be the spiritual leader of the home. They also carry it further to believe, the woman is the absolute crowning achievement of God’s creation, since God made her last and speaks more about the creation of woman than the man. This position leads to no difference in roles and responsibilities in the church, like women senior pastors. Some of these even go so far as declaring that God is a woman, since the woman was the “crowning” achievement in God’s creation.
C. Complimentarian – the woman compliments the husband. Where the man is lacking the woman is not. There are specific God given roles and responsibilities for each. The man has the God given responsibility to be the spiritual leader of the home. He did not ordain that position for the woman. The woman is given the role of nurturing mother and loving helpmate. The man is not to dominate the woman but to lovingly lead her and the family in the ways of God. She is to willingly submit to his loving leadership. This position holds that man/woman are the crowning achievement of God’s creation. Marriage is to picture the love of God for His people. Together, a redeemed husband and a redeemed wife display the image of God in its fullness. They absolutely compliment each other. It is a faith relationship. It takes courage and faith in God for the man to lead. It takes just as much faith and courage for woman to follow as it does for the man to lead.
Which is the most Biblical? It would take me ten pages to give you the detailed answer, but someone else has already done the detail work for us. The Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood is a website and academic journal created for the purpose of countering false doctrines. The council members and board of reference reads like a who’s who of the best evangelical leaders this country has ever seen.
They have a position paper on Egalatarian verses the Complimentarian position. The first half of the paper is devoted to the Egalatarian and the second half the Complimentarian position. It is not difficult reading but the paper is about 12 pages. Remember when reading these position type papers, every word means something. Words are carefully chosen by both sides to explain their position. So check it out at this link:
So what do we believe? Simply the Egalatarian view is not exegesis but an exercise in eisegesis where the interpreter is reading his/her view into the Scripture passage and forming a non-Biblical interpretation. Proper interpretation principles (exegesis) allow the Bible to speak for itself, without telling the Bible what they believe it should say.
I and my wife (of her own accord and free will) agree and adhere to the Complimentarian view. You can ask her or just read her website and you can tell what she believes. It is the one view that makes for a peace filled home and a very God honoring home. Biblically it brings God the most glory and honors the intent of God to display Himself through the marriage relationship.
What do Southern Baptist’s believe?
The Southern Baptist Convention adopted a statement about the Family in 2000. It is a good statement. I believe it accurately reflects a proper interpretation of Scripture and the heart of God. Here it is. Do I agree with everything the Southern Baptist hold to be true and practices, not at all. But this is a very accurate statement of Biblical intent.
“God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. It is composed of persons related to one another by marriage, blood, or adoption.
Marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime. It is God’s unique gift to reveal the union between Christ and His church and to provide for the man and the woman in marriage the framework for intimate companionship, the channel of sexual expression according to biblical standards, and the means for procreation of the human race.
The husband and wife are of equal worth before God, since both are created in God’s image. The marriage relationship models the way God relates to His people. A husband is to love his wife as Christ loved the church. He has the God-given responsibility to provide for, to protect, and to lead his family. A wife is to submit herself graciously to the servant leadership of her husband even as the church willingly submits to the headship of Christ. She, being in the image of God as is her husband and thus equal to him, has the God-given responsibility to respect her husband and to serve as his helper in managing the household and nurturing the next generation.
Children, from the moment of conception, are a blessing and heritage from the Lord. Parents are to demonstrate to their children God’s pattern for marriage. Parents are to teach their children spiritual and moral values and to lead them, through consistent lifestyle example and loving discipline, to make choices based on biblical truth. Children are to honor and obey their parents.”
Genesis 1:26-28; 2:15-25; 3:1-20; Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 6:4-9; Joshua 24:15; 1 Samuel 1:26-28; Psalms 51:5; 78:1-8; 127; 128; 139:13-16; Proverbs 1:8; 5:15-20; 6:20-22; 12:4; 13:24; 14:1; 17:6; 18:22; 22:6,15; 23:13-14; 24:3; 29:15,17; 31:10-31; Ecclesiastes 4:9-12; 9:9; Malachi 2:14-16; Matthew 5:31-32; 18:2-5; 19:3-9; Mark 10:6-12; Romans 1:18-32; 1 Corinthians 7:1-16; Ephesians 5:21-33; 6:1-4; Colossians 3:18-21; 1 Timothy 5:8,14; 2 Timothy 1:3-5; Titus 2:3-5; Hebrews 13:4; 1 Peter 3:1-7.
You can read more about this at http://www.sbc.net/bfm/bfm2000.asp
