Page 10 - Pentateuch

We will have to wait for later parts of the Pentateuch to learn more about the Sabbath. Many chapters are
spent on this topic. At this point, we simply emphasize the core idea of holiness: a time or place or person
identified as special. “Everything God made, as recorded in Genesis, he called good. Only the Sabbath,
however, he sanctified, indicating perhaps that the climax of creation was not the creation of man, as is
often stated, but the day of rest, the seventh day. The Sabbath is thus an invitation to rejoice in God’s
9
creation and recognize God’s sovereignty over our time.”

Now our attention is turned to Adam’s situation. He is alone on the earth, the only “living being” (2:7). In
God’s view, this loneliness is “not good” (2:18). Adam needs a “helper suitable to him” (2:18). The animals,
also “formed out of the ground” (2:19), are brought before Adam to be named. Among them, no “suitable
helper” is found (2:20).

The word “helper” is most frequently used to describe Yahweh’s relationship to Israel. He is Israel’s help(er)
because he is the stronger one (Exod. 18:4; Deut. 33:7, 26, 29; Ps. 33:20; 115:9-11; 124:8; 146:5). The word
is used less frequently for human helpers, and even here, the helper is one appealed to because of superior
10
military strength (Isa. 30:5) or superior size (Ps. 121:1). God’s purpose is for Adam to have someone
alongside of him to take care of the garden. Made in God’s image, she is his equal in creation, like him
above all plants and animals.

This is an expansion of 1:26-27. God’s creation of male (Adam) and female (Eve) is
designed to be a partnership. Adam is taken physically from the “dust of the
ground” (2:7), and Eve is taken from “one of the man’s ribs” (2:21). Neither is
involved in creating the other. Adam identifies Eve as “bone of my bones and flesh
of my flesh” (2:23). She is like him, and unlike the animals he has already named.
Her similarity to him is not just in her physical nature but in the human
characteristic of the relationship. The phrase is repeated later in the OT to refer to family ties that carry
expectations of commitment beyond what is convenient (Gen. 29:14; Judg. 9:2; 2 Sam. 5:1; 19:12-13).

The relationship of the first two humans becomes a pattern for all close male/female relationships. In
marriage, a man “leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife.” The two are “one flesh” (2:24),
indicating a unity beyond anything else in the created world. The frequently used wedding vows in many
Western settings reflect this intention. “I, _____, take you, _____, to be my wedded wife/husband, to have
and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to
love and cherish, till death us do part, according to God’s holy ordinance; and to this I pledge my
11
faithfulness.”

“Leaving” and “uniting” are strong, practical words that communicate
commitment. “Leaving” is a common word in the OT, used for everyday
activities as simple as leaving a city through an open gate (Josh. 8:17).
“Uniting” in other places in the OT describes a “belt bound around the
waist” (Jer. 13:11) or the welding of metal parts (Isa. 41:7). The language,
when transferred to human relationships, communicates affection and
loyalty. We are to “hold fast to the Lord” (Deut. 10:20). Taken together,
these two words emphasize the new life begun by a husband and wife.
While they still have ties to parents, siblings, and extended relatives, these

9 Hamilton, “vbt,” Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, ed. Harris, et al, (Chicago: Moody, 1980), 2:903.
10 Hamilton, The Book of Genesis: Chapters 1-17; (Grand Rapids: Erdmann, 1990), p. 176.
11 Minister’s Service Manual (Minneapolis: His international Service, 1973), p. 11.

8