Section 1: Contextual Analysis
Genesis 2:18-24 was the narrative where God created a “helper” for the man. But before that, in Genesis 1:1-2:4a, it was the first creation narrative, the 7-day creation. In Genesis 2:4b- 3:24, it was the story of the second creation narrative, the story of the Garden of Eden. In Genesis 2:7, God created Adam from the dust of the ground, breathed the breath of life into his body and brought him to live. In Genesis 2:8-15, God put Adam into the Garden of Eden to till it and keep it. According to Genesis 2:16-17 Adam can eat from any trees from Garden of Eden expect one: the knowledge of good and evil. If Adam eats from the knowledge of good and evil, he is going to die. From Genesis 2:18-24, God tried to create a helper for Adam and Adam chose the woman to be his helper. However, things did not go well after the creation of woman. From Genesis 2:25-3:7, human being disobeyed God because of snake’s words, by eating the apple from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. We noticed the consequences of disobedience were they hid from God and they were cursed by God and expelled from the Garden of Eden. Humans no longer have access to the tree of life and the relationship between human and God was ruined.
The Genesis 3:14-19 explained why would people die, why childbirth is painful for woman, why food will not grow off the ground and why snakes crawl on the ground. This passage represents the creation of woman and also foreshadows the fall of humans.
Section 2: Formal Analysis
Genesis 2:18-22 used narrative type of writing; it was the story of creation of woman. In Genesis 2:23, the man expressed himself with a jubilant poem and in Genesis 2:24, it went back to narrative. This passage clearly had one main section and one subordinate section. The story of creation of every animal of field and every bird of the air was the subordinate section. The purpose of animals’ creations was to find a helper and partner for the man. However, it ended in failure, so animal creatures became a further addition to the world, which God had created for the man (Wilfong, 1988, p59).
The main section of this passage was the creation of the woman; the woman was made out of the man’s rib, so they shared the same bone and flesh. The man named the woman and she became his helper who corresponded with him. The k’neged can also be translated into “a helper equal to him” (Rosenzweig, 2001, p277). Most animal creatures were able to meet Adam’s basic needs but they were not good enough to be his helpers because they were not equal to him. The woman was the only creature that was equal to him.
The creation of animals foreshadowed the creation of the woman and it showed the difference between living creatures and human beings. The creation of the woman means the creation of reproduction of human kind, Eve said: “I have produced a man with the help of the LORD (Genesis 4:1)” after she bore Cain. Genesis 2:18-24 is the beginning of the entire history of human beings. Every man is descendant of Adam and every woman is descendant of Eve, so the story of Adam and Eve is the story of all mankind.
Section 3: Detailed Analysis
Genesis 2:18-24 is the narrative where God creates a “helper” for the man. First God realized it was not good that the man should be alone so God was going to make him a helper as his partner (Gen 2:18). Then, God created every animal of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to the man to see what he will name them (Gen 2:19). The man named all the animals but he did not found a suitable helper (Gen 2:20). So God put the man into a deep sleep and took one of his ribs, created woman and brought her to the man (Gen 2:21-22). The man named the woman and she became the “helper corresponding to him” (Whitekettle, 2009, p61). This passage described the relationship between man and woman from the very beginning of creation.
Since the woman was “the bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh”, the