Thought for the Day
Gender bias in the Old Testament?

In Gen 2:18, "The LORD God says, it is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a suitable helper for him."

(Note: the NAB leaks out here and inserts "partner for him," whereas the Nova Vulgate states, "adiuatorium.")

Many theologians attribute common areas where women are unfairly treated by men as coming, predictably, from the Fall, as one of the consequences of the Fall (see Gen 3:16). However, with the verse above, we have a problem.

If Woman was created as a "helper" for Man, and this was before the Fall, does that somehow suggest that Woman is not completely equal with the man?

I was listening to this topic on Relevant Radio the other day and had these thoughts, largely inspired by whatever program it was.

Clearly, this is not "helper" in the sense of someone to cook the food or help plow the fields, since the creation of the woman is before the Fall, so such manual labor was wholly unnecesary. Indeed, humanity's purpose was quite direct and clear, simply "to know, love, and serve God."

But how can Man learn how to love God without a more direct experience of what love is? For we have a supernatural vocation of complete self-gift of ourselves to God, complete love of God. In order to have any chance at success, Adam would need a pedagogical help from God.

Man needed the Woman to understand his own ideal relationship with God; how can a heavenly, eternal communal love be understood without the intial experience of an earthly communal love? For this, the Woman was created to be helper of the Man -- to help understand the nature of God and embrace his eternal destiny. The role which Eve played was so profound and a help so essential to salvation that, perhaps, it alone was the most significant help for sanctification until the coming of Christ Himself. But certainly, that Woman was created as "helper" of Man does not suggest a lesser dignity, but instead propells both Adam and Eve to an eternal dignity, complete communion with the Divine.