Because of your gender…

“I note that God created a “helper” for man. It seems to me that implies a role of leadership for the man, and a role of assistance for the woman.”

As I understand it, the word translated “helper” here (ezer) is also the same word God uses to describe himself in relationship to his people! Does that imply people should take a leadership role with God, with him assisting?

Actually, I really appreciate being able to share our differing understandings. Thank you for your grace.

My own understanding has shifted over the years as I’ve read and studied. I’m no longer certain that the teaching (particularly as interpreted by ‘the church’) really is as straightforward as it has been presented.

That said, I genuinely honour your willingness to be true to what you have understood 🙂

To me, the example of Jesus who came, “not to be served, but to serve” is of much greater significance than whether someone is regarded as a ‘leader’ or ‘helper’.

And I believe we are all created in God’s image, whether male or female, and have equal significance in his creation. So it troubles me to think that people who bear the image of the Creator God are denied expression of who they are based solely on gender.

Congratulations on the birth of your first grandchild! What a wonderful distraction – definitely more important than being on the computer 🙂

I’m genuinely happy to hear you don’t feel restricted or denied expression of who you are, and it’s great that you can find forums which are in keeping with your reading of scripture.

And I guess that is the crux of the issue for both of us – how we have read and understood scripture. But we have a God bigger than our limited understandings and, though we differ, I love that we can still honour each other and engage with grace.

If I may interject….

Living Liminal, I think, is on to something in pointing out ezer. Our English word “helper” has the connotation of assistance much as you are using e.g a woman is an assistant to a man. However, the Hebrew roots, as I understand has a militaristic connotation. Ezer means a strong aid and is used of God and of nations, e.g our “help/ezer” (strong aid, strength of deliverance) comes from God and of a nation allying with another to offer military aid (ezer/help). It is not exclusively feminine, either. It is used in names such as Eliezer (Help of God) in the bible of three different *men*.

I don’t believe man needs an assistant or that woman is a supporting actress in a man’s drama. Man needs an equal ally with mutual responsibility to bring to bear her strengths and energies to fulfill the Creation Charter of tending and caring for God’s cosmic temple (Ge 2) and for being on Jesus’ mission in New Creation. A male-female partnership in which each respect the image-bearing and vice-regency of the other is a Blessed Alliance, (HT: Carolyn Custis James), a Power Team. Jesus is the lead actor in God’s story, and male and female are the supporting cast members. Females are the strong aid, drawing from the militaristic imagery, the warriors, if you will, that complement males.

From what I understand of your position, women are inherently born to be assistants, therefore this makes them inferior in essence in their position relative to men. I base this on my reading of the following from your larger context: ” It seems to me that implies a role of leadership for the man, and a role of assistance for the woman” and “…woman was created for the purpose of helping man.”

I do not affirm ezer in Hebrew means an “assistant” i.e. the common English connotation of “helper”. Rather, drawing from its etymology and other uses in relation to God and nations, I affirm ezer as more of a connotation of an ally, aid, strong help, strength, rescuer, and power. I also don’t interpret it alone. The Hebrew kenegdo qualifies ezer even further. Kenegdo is translated “meet’ (KJV) but means like facing opposite, fit to, corresponding to. Female is an equal ally, strong help that corresponds to, a strength that fits to male. The male is not given a greater dominion in Creation, but both are given equal dominion (Ge 1:26-28) of God’s cosmic temple. In the Genesis 2 narrative, the Adam needs a strength, an ally, a strong help, a power accomplish the task of guarding and keeping the garden. This is what the Adam recognizes when he breaks out in poetry, ““bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh” (Ge 2:23). Though the physical difference was obvious as they are naked, it was the similarities, their shared humanity, and identity as image bearers and vice-regents that the Adam enthusiastically extols. The Adam does not stake a claim over the female but embraces her as one like him, an equal, a co-image bearer, a co-vice regent.

A Jesus-centered hermeneutic as well as my understanding of the Creation accounts are my guiding hermeneutics for understanding male-female Imago Dei, vocation, and relationships. If someone interprets “helper” as an assistant, again not a definition or connotation of the Hebrew word, we are going to come away with different understandings because the starting point of our exegesis of a word and text are significantly different.

I also don’t approach the Bible as a manual, recipe book, or textbook for “gender roles,” so I don’t perceive the Bible to be intending to reveal God ordaining roles for all people and times. If teaching hierarchy and gender roles was the intent of the Bible, there were plenty of words available to them and used by their contemporary philosophers to teach male authority. The Bible does this no where. Hierarchy in marriage is based on conjecture of “symbols” and dubious interpretations of metaphor. The only place in scripture where authority is discussed between a husband and wife, it is *mutual* (1 Co 7).

I approach the Bible as God’s holy, inspired telling of His self-revelation through the people of Israel with Jesus as the hero, and his death, burial, and resurrection as the climax of the story. Within that meta-narrative, are micro-stories of real people in real time navigating their cultural, geo-political, and other contexts in the unfolding of God’s grand story. Consequently, I don’t see situational instructions or teachings as establishing new Torah for all people and times.

I said all that because it relates to your question about 1 Co 11:3 and 7. First, I don’t form doctrine from two verses in isolation. Second, this is a much debated passage on which there is not a monolithic understanding on either side of this issue. For that reason, I wouldn’t form a doctrine on which to divide. I strive as much as possible to ascertain the overarching point and abstract a principle for application. It seems within this specific situation, Paul is most concerned with propriety in worship not the establishing of gender specific roles. Within his instructions about propriety in worship, he establishes the interdependence of the genders which is significant to note while also sayings some things that we just don’t understand.

Lastly, couples are free to choose their relationship paradigm, at least in the West. I deny, however, that patriarchal, hierarchical models or unilateral male leadership-female submission are inherently godly or are “God ordained”. However, I think Dale in this post is on to something. For evangelistic purposes and to thwart reproach in the eyes of an adversary, first century Christian wives and women are to maintain an acceptable demeanor (1 Pe 3:1-6) and to marry, bear children, and guide the house (1 Ti 5:1). In their context, a woman independent of her husband embracing something other than his household gods is reproachable, seemingly insubordinate, hence the instruction. Not in our context. In their context, young women or widows going to college, getting vocational training, or working independent of the household would be a reproach on the gospel because of how far diverges from culture. Not today. In the same way, I think requiring a hierarchy or unilateral male authority/leadership and female submission can bring a reproach on the gospel of Christ, at least in some cultures, and inhibit its advancement.

I hope this is clear. I am trying to reply quickly. Thank you for the respectful engagement. I hope I have returned in kind despite my haste.