Quick Word Study – An Ally – ‘Ezer עזר Ayin Zayin Resh

Psalms 68:11-12: “The Lord gave the word, great was the company (women) of those that published it. Kings of armies did flee apace and she that tarried at home divided the spoil.”

This passage is felt by many Bible scholars to be a reference to Miriam and the role she played in the deliverance of Israel from Egypt.  Some translations will render the words of the company as women.  Some like the NIV will keep its gender neutral. However, the reference and context clearly indicate the role women played in publishing the “Word” especially if this is a reference to Miriam and this passage is a reference to the role of  Miriam. Since the word company is in a feminine form, we could and should render this as women.  The Jewish JPS translation render’s it as women and most rabbis will agree it should be rendered as women. 

The Exodus Rabbah teaches that when Pharaoh increased the labor of the Hebrew slaves, he also separated them from their families, so no Jewish women would conceive of children.  Miriam led the women in worship to God every day, she encouraged them to fix meals for their men, and at night, dressed to the nines, they would sneak into the camp of the men and feed them, minister to their wounds and encourage them that God was about to deliver them.  Miriam was a prophetess and people respected her prophecy that God was going to deliver them.  The men listened to their wives and were encouraged. 

I remember a documentary about commercial fishermen up North. The fishing industry was going through hard times and the men would go out every day and come home discouraged over a poor catch for that day. The narrator said that regardless of the problems, debts, and fears of the future of their trade when the boats would come home the wives were all gathered and waiting at the docks.  When the men saw their wives anxiously waiting for them to walk home with them to a warm meal, the men knew everything was alright. 

There is a story in Jewish literature about a rabbi who lead a Jewish community that was being persecuted by a nearby Christian town. The rabbi went to the top of a hill overlooking the Christian community and quoted a particular Psalm in Hebrew asking God to destroy his enemy.  His wife stopped him and said that he misquoted the Psalm and that the word should really be “blessed” and not “destroyed.” Immediately the rabbi repeated the Psalm and asked that God bless their enemies. 

I don’t remember the particular passage or word the rabbi quoted because I was more impressed with the fact that he did not hesitate to listen to his wife and correct his prayer. Contrary to popular belief, women in Hebrew culture were honored for their understanding of God’s voice. Even today Jewish men respect the insight their wives offer in regard to their relationship with God.  

This idea stems back to creation where in Genesis 2:20 a woman was created to be a help meet for a man or in the Hebrew an ezer kenegedo.   The word ezer is indeed a helper. However, this word is often used in a military sense for being an ally in the field of battle.  Helper is a good rendering if we keep in mind that the word helper has different nuances in English than they do in Hebrew.  In English, the word “Helper” implies one who is learning, not up to the quality of the one he is helping.  He is a subordinate. However, in Hebrew, the word helper means almost the opposite and can refer to one in a superior position. Yet the very next word “meet” is kenegedo which has the preposition Ke prefixed to the root word nego which means to stand in someone’s presence and with the Ke prefixed to it, it would then mean to stand in the presence of an equal. Thus Ezer /Kenegedo or help meet really means a superior helper to man but standing as an equal to man. Not a contradiction but a paradox. 

A woman was created to help man understand his relationship with God.  His love for his wife was to help him understand how God loves him and wants to provide and protect him as he wants to provide and protect his wife.  How the man desires the love of his wife, so too God desires his love. As he seeks to protect his wife’s heart, so too does he seek to protect the heart of God. The physical intimacy that he shares with his wife is a physical parallel to the spiritual intimacy that God wishes to share with him. 

So indeed God would give his word to the “women” who would publish it. At the very beginning of creation, it was never intended for women to be silent in the church with regard to teaching and preaching.  They were to share an equal role and actually take a superior role as a gateway for their husbands to understand their relationship with God. 

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