Genesis 2 · Verse 18

Genesis 2:18

And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.
Genesis 2:18, King James Version

Genesis 2:18 in other translations

BSBThe LORD God also said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make for him a suitable helper.”
WEBThe LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make him a helper comparable to him.”
ASVAnd Jehovah God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a help meet for him.
YLTAnd Jehovah God saith, ‘Not good for the man to be alone, I do make to him an helper--as his counterpart.'
DARBYAnd Jehovah Elohim said, It is not good that Man should be alone; I will make him a helpmate, his like.
BBEAnd the Lord God said, It is not good for the man to be by himself: I will make one like himself as a help to him
WebsterAnd the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone: I will make him a help meet for him.

What does Genesis 2:18 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

Ge 2:18-25. The Making of Woman, and Institution of Marriage.

18. it is not good for the man to be alone--In the midst of plenty and delights, he was conscious of feelings he could not gratify. To make him sensible of his wants,

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 18 It is not good that the man should be alone - לבדו lebaddo; only himself. I will make him a help meet for him; עזר כנגדו ezer kenegdo, a help, a counterpart of himself, one formed from him, and a perfect resemblance of his person. If the word be rendered scrupulously literally, it signifies one like, or as himself, standing opposite to or before him. And this implies that the woman was to be a perfect resemblance of the man, possessing neither inferiority nor superiority, but being in all things like and equal to himself. As man was made a social creature, it was not proper that he should be alone; for to be alone, i.e. without a matrimonial companion, was not good. Hence we find that celibacy in general is a thing that is not good, whether it be on the side of the man or of the woman. Men may, in opposition to the declaration of God, call this a state of excellence and a state of perfection; but let them remember that the word of God says the reverse.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Genesis 2:18-25
Power over the creatures was given to man, and as a proof of this he named them all. It also shows his insight into the works of God. But though he was lord of the creatures, yet nothing in this world was a help meet for man. From God are all our helpers. If we rest in God, he will work all for good. God caused deep sleep to fall on Adam; while he knows no sin, God will take care that he shall feel no pain. God, as her Father, brought the woman to the man, as his second self, and a help meet for him. That wife, who is of God's making by special grace, and of God's bringing by special providence, is likely to prove a help meet for a man. See what need there is, both of prudence and prayer in the choice of this relation, which is so near and so lasting. That had need to be well done, which is to be done for life. Our first parents needed no clothes for covering against cold or heat, for neither could hurt them: they needed none for ornament. Thus easy, thus happy, was man in his state of innocency. How good was God to him! How many favours did he load him with! How easy were the laws given to him! Yet man, being in honour, understood not his own interest, but soon became as the beasts that perish.

Matthew Henry, 1706 · public domain

Genesis 2:18 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙vai.Yo.merand he saidH559
יְהוָ֣הYah.wehYahwehH3068
אֱלֹהִ֔ים'E.lo.HimGodH430
לֹא\־lo'-notH3808
ט֛וֹבTov[is] goodH2896
הֱי֥וֹתhe.Yotto beH1961
הָֽאָדָ֖םha.'a.Damthe manH120
לְבַדּ֑וֹle.va.Doto only himH905
אֶֽעֱשֶׂהּ\־'e.'e.seh-I will makeH6213
לּ֥וֹlofor <the> him
עֵ֖זֶר'E.zera helperH5828
כְּנֶגְדּֽוֹ\׃ke.neg.Dolike before himH5048

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Genesis 2:18

  • Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

    Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up. Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone? And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

  • Proverbs 18:22

    Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the Lord.

  • 1 Peter 3:7

    Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.

  • 1 Corinthians 11:7-12

    For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man. For the man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man. Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man. For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels. …

  • Ruth 3:1

    Then Naomi her mother in law said unto her, My daughter, shall I not seek rest for thee, that it may be well with thee?

  • 1 Timothy 2:11-13

    Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve.

  • Genesis 3:12

    And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.

  • Genesis 1:31

    And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

  • 1 Corinthians 7:36

    But if any man think that he behaveth himself uncomely toward his virgin, if she pass the flower of her age, and need so require, let him do what he will, he sinneth not: let them marry.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
good.
1:31; 3:12; Ru 3:1; Pr 18:22; Ec 4:9-12; 1Co 7:36
I will.
3:12; 1Co 11:7-12; 1Ti 2:11-13; 1Pe 3:7
meet for him. Heb. as before him.

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Genesis 2:17

    But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

  • Genesis 2:18

    And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.

  • Genesis 2:19

    And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.

Read all of Genesis 2

Genesis 2:18 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Y dijo Jehová Dios: No es bueno que el hombre esté solo; haréle ayuda idónea para él.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Et l’ Éternel Dieu dit: Il n’est pas bon que l’homme soit seul; je lui ferai une aide qui lui corresponde.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Und Jehova Gott sprach: Es ist nicht gut, daß der Mensch allein sei; ich will ihm eine Hülfe machen, seines Gleichen.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Dixit quoque Dominus Deus: Non est bonum esse hominem solum: faciamus ei adjutorium simile sibi.