Then the Lord God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper as his complement."
Parallel Translations
Legacy Standard Bible
Then Yahweh God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him."
New American Standard Bible (1995)
Then the LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him."
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And the Lord God sayde: It is not good yt the man should be alone, I wyll make hym an helpe lyke vnto hym.
Easy-to-Read Version
Then the Lord God said, "I see that it is not good for the man to be alone. I will make the companion he needs, one just right for him."
Revised Standard Version
Then the LORD God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him."
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And the Lord God seide, It is not good that a man be aloone, make we to hym an help lijk to hym silf.
King James Version (1611)
And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone: I will make him an helpe meet for him.
King James Version
And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And the LORDE God sayde: It is not good yt ma shulde be alone. I wil make him an helpe, to beare him copany.
THE MESSAGE
God said, "It's not good for the Man to be alone; I'll make him a helper, a companion." So God formed from the dirt of the ground all the animals of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the Man to see what he would name them. Whatever the Man called each living creature, that was its name. The Man named the cattle, named the birds of the air, named the wild animals; but he didn't find a suitable companion.
New American Standard Bible
Then the LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him."
American Standard Version
And Jehovah God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a help meet for him.
Bible in Basic English
And 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
Update Bible Version
And Yahweh God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make a matching helper for him.
Webster's Bible Translation
And the LORD God said, [It is] not good that the man should be alone: I will make him a help meet for him.
World English Bible
Yahweh God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him."
New English Translation
The Lord God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a companion for him who corresponds to him."
New King James Version
And the LORD God said, "It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him."
Contemporary English Version
The Lord God said, "It isn't good for the man to live alone. I need to make a suitable partner for him."
Complete Jewish Bible
Adonai , God, said, "It isn't good that the person should be alone. I will make for him a companion suitable for helping him."
Darby Translation
And Jehovah Elohim said, It is not good that Man should be alone; I will make him a helpmate, his like.
Geneva Bible (1587)
Also the Lorde God saide, It is not good that the man should be himself alone: I wil make him an helpe meete for him.
George Lamsa Translation
Then the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper who is like him.
Good News Translation
Then the Lord God said, "It is not good for the man to live alone. I will make a suitable companion to help him."
Amplified Bible
Now the LORD God said, "It is not good (beneficial) for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper [one who balances him—a counterpart who is] suitable and complementary for him."
Hebrew Names Version
The LORD God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him."
JPS Old Testament (1917)
And the LORD God said: 'It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a help meet for him.'
New Living Translation
Then the Lord God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him."
New Life Bible
Then the Lord God said, "It is not good for man to be alone. I will make a helper that is right for him."
New Revised Standard
Then the Lord God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner."
English Revised Version
And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.
Berean Standard Bible
The LORD God also said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make for him a suitable helper."
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And Yahweh God said, It is, not good, that the man should remain alone, - I will make for him a helper as his counterpart.
Douay-Rheims Bible
And the Lord God said: It is not good for man to be alone: let us make him a help like unto himself.
Lexham English Bible
Then Yahweh God said, "it is not good that the man is alone. I will make for him a helper as his counterpart."
Literal Translation
And Jehovah God said, It is not good, the man being alone. I will make a helper suited to him.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone, let us make for him a help suitable to him.
English Standard Version
Then the Lord God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him."
New Century Version
Then the Lord God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is right for him."
Young's Literal Translation
And Jehovah God saith, `Not good for the man to be alone, I do make to him an helper -- as his counterpart.'
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Contextual Overview
18 Then the Lord God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper as his complement." 19 So the Lord God formed out of the ground every wild animal and every bird of the sky, and brought each to the man to see what he would call it. And whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name. 20 The man gave names to all the livestock, to the birds of the sky, and to every wild animal; but for the man no helper was found as his complement.
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Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
good: Genesis 1:31, Genesis 3:12, Ruth 3:1, Proverbs 18:22, Ecclesiastes 4:9-12, 1 Corinthians 7:36
I will: Genesis 3:12, 1 Corinthians 11:7-12, 1 Timothy 2:11-13, 1 Peter 3:7
meet for him: Heb. as before him
Reciprocal: Genesis 2:20 - but Genesis 4:19 - two wives Psalms 115:12 - the house of Israel Ecclesiastes 4:8 - one Malachi 2:14 - thy companion Matthew 19:10 - General John 2:1 - a marriage 1 Corinthians 11:9 - the man 1 Timothy 2:13 - General
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Cross-References
Genesis 1:31
God saw all that He had made, and it was very good. Evening came and then morning: the sixth day.
Genesis 2:7
Then the Lord God formed the man out of the dust from the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being.
Genesis 2:9
The Lord God caused to grow out of the ground every tree pleasing in appearance and good for food, including the tree of life in the middle of the garden, as well as the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Genesis 2:11
The name of the first is Pishon, which flows through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold.
Genesis 2:12
Gold from that land is pure; bdellium and onyx are also there.
Genesis 2:13
The name of the second river is Gihon, which flows through the entire land of Cush.
Genesis 3:12
Then the man replied, "The woman You gave to be with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate."
Ruth 3:1
Ruth's mother-in-law Naomi said to her, "My daughter, shouldn't I find security for you, so that you will be taken care of?
Proverbs 18:22
A man who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord .
1 Corinthians 7:36
But if any man thinks he is acting improperly toward his virgin, if she is past marriageable age, and so it must be, he can do what he wants. He is not sinning; they can get married.
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Gill's Notes on the Bible
And the Lord God said,.... Not at the same time he gave the above direction and instruction to man, how to behave according to his will, but before that, even at the time of the formation of Adam and which he said either to him, or with himself: it was a purpose or determination in his own mind, and may be rendered, as it is by many, he "had said" b, on the sixth day, on which man was created,
[it is] not good that man should be alone; not pleasant and comfortable to himself, nor agreeable to his nature, being a social creature; nor useful to his species, not being able to propagate it; nor so much for the glory of his Creator:
I will made him an help meet for him; one to help him in all the affairs of life, not only for the propagation of his species, but to provide things useful and comfortable for him; to dress his food, and take care of the affairs of the family; one "like himself" c, in nature, temper, and disposition, in form and shape; or one "as before him" d, that would be pleasing to his sight, and with whom he might delightfully converse, and be in all respects agreeable to him, and entirely answerable to his case and circ*mstances, his wants and wishes.
b ××××ר "dixerat", Vatablus, Drusius, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator. c ××××× "simile sibi", V. L. Sam. Syr. d "Tanquam coram eo", Montanus.
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Barnes' Notes on the Bible
- XIII. The Naming of the Animals
Here manâs intellectual faculties proceed from the passive and receptive to the active and communicative stage. This advance is made in the review and designation of the various species of animals that frequent the land and skies.
A new and final need of man is stated in Genesis 2:18. The Creator himself, in whose image he was made, had revealed himself to him in language. This, among many other effects, awakened the social affection. This affection was the index of social capacity. The first step towards communication between kindred spirits was accomplished when Adam heard and understood spoken language. Beyond all this God knew what was in the man whom he had formed. And he expresses this in the words, âIt is not good for the man to be alone.â He is formed to be social, to hold converse, not only with his superior, but also with his equal. As yet he is but a unit, an individual. He needs a mate, with whom he may take sweet counsel. And the benevolent Creator resolves to supply this want. âI will make him a helpmeet for himâ - one who may not only reciprocate his feelings, but take an intelligent and appropriate part in his active pursuits.
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Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Genesis 2:18. It is not good that the man should be alone — ×××× lebaddo; only himself. I will make him a help meet for him; ×¢×ר ××××× 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.
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