Hebrew word · H5828

עֵ֫זֶר

'ezer

helper

“Help, aid, support,” and by extension the one who gives it. The word is about bringing what is lacking or rescuing someone in need. It says nothing about the helper's rank: a king, an army or God can be an ʿēzer.

Appears 21 times in 21 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) help, succour

1a) help, succour

1b) one who helps

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Genesis 2:18

Range of meaning

“Help, aid, support,” and by extension the one who gives it. The word is about bringing what is lacking or rescuing someone in need. It says nothing about the helper's rank: a king, an army or God can be an ʿēzer. The related verb ʿāzar means “to help” or “to come to the aid of,” often in battle (for example Joshua 10:4, 6; 1 Chronicles 12).

Against the English

Modern English “helper” suggests an assistant, a junior worker, someone who supports another person's main job (“Santa's little helper,” “kitchen helper”). Hebrew ʿēzer has no such built-in sense of lower status. Most of its uses describe God.

How it drifted

“Helper” is not a wrong gloss. The drift is in what modern English assumes about rank. The KJV's “an help meet for him” (“a help suitable for him”) was later run together into the noun “helpmeet” or “helpmate,” which came to mean a dutiful wife-assistant.

Used elsewhere in the period

The noun occurs 21 times in the Hebrew Bible. Two are here and in 2:20. Most of the rest describe God: Exodus 18:4 (“the God of my father was my help”); Deuteronomy 33:7, 26, 29 (“who rides the heavens to your help… the shield of your help”); Psalms 33:20; 70:5; 115:9–11 (“he is their help and their shield”); 121:1–2 (“my help comes from the LORD”); 124:8; 146:5; Hosea 13:9. A few refer to human military aid that fails (Isaiah 30:5; Ezekiel 12:14; Daniel 11:34). The Greek Septuagint translates it boēthos, the usual Greek word for a rescuer or ally, used of God in the Psalms. Some scholars also connect a second Hebrew root ʿzr with “strength” (compare Ugaritic ġzr, “hero, warrior”); see the debates.

From the study of Psalm 70:5

Range of meaning

Help or helper. Most often it means effective rescuing aid, frequently military, given by a stronger party to a weaker one in trouble. God is the commonest 'ezer in the Hebrew Bible (Deut 33:7, 26, 29; Ps 33:20; 121:1–2; 146:5).

Against the English

'Help' is correct, but in English it can sound like minor assistance. The Hebrew word suggests rescue that makes the difference between life and death.

Used elsewhere in the period

The same word describes the woman in Genesis 2:18 ('ezer kenegdo), which shows it carries no sense of being lesser. Israel's kings called on allies for 'ezer in war (e.g. Isa 31:1–3, where Egypt's 'help' fails).

From the study of Psalm 146:5

Range of meaning

Help, aid, rescue. It is usually help from a stronger party to someone in danger, often military help (Deut 33:7, 26, 29; Ps 33:20; 121:1–2). It is used most often of God. In Gen 2:18 it describes the woman as a counterpart to the man, which shows the word carries no idea of being lesser.

Against the English

English 'help' can sound small, like an extra pair of hands. In the Psalms, ʿēzer is closer to 'rescue,' 'reinforcement' or 'deliverance.' The construction bĕʿezrô literally means 'in his help.' The preposition here works as 'in the role of.' KJV's 'for his help' and BSB's 'whose help is' both render it correctly.

How it drifted

The drift is not dramatic. Everyday English 'help' is simply weaker than the Hebrew's usual setting of a stronger party rescuing a weaker one.

Used elsewhere in the period

Ps 121:1–2: 'My help (ʿezrî) comes from YHWH, maker of heaven and earth.' The same pairing of help and Creator comes in Ps 146:5–6. See also Ps 124:8 and 115:9–11 ('he is their help and their shield'). The Septuagint uses boēthos, 'helper, one who runs to aid.'

Where it appears

Genesis · 2

  1. Genesis 2:18 עֵ֖זֶר a helper

    The LORD God also said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make for him a suitable helper.”

    Here: Help or aid: someone who brings what the other cannot supply alone. Elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible it is used mostly of God as Israel's help. It implies neither inferiority nor superiority.

  2. Genesis 2:20 עֵ֖זֶר a helper

    The man gave names to all the livestock, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam no suitable helper was found.

Exodus · 1

  1. Exodus 18:4 בְּעֶזְרִ֔י [has been] <in> help my

    The other son was named Eliezer, for Moses had said, “The God of my father was my helper and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh.”

    Here: Literally 'in/as my help'. The little prefix be- here means 'as' or 'in the role of', so the sense is 'was my help' (a well-known example of this use in Hebrew grammar). The clause has no verb, so it can be read as past ('was') or as a lasting truth ('is').

Deuteronomy · 3

  1. Deuteronomy 33:7 וְעֵ֥זֶר and a help

    And concerning Judah he said: “O LORD, hear the cry of Judah and bring him to his people. With his own hands he defends his cause, but may You be a help against his foes.”

    Here: 'And a help.' In the Bible this word is usually God's rescuing power, which comes when human strength is not enough. The 'and' may mark contrast ('but you be his help').

  2. Deuteronomy 33:26 בְעֶזְרֶ֔ךָ for help your

    “There is none like the God of Jeshurun, who rides the heavens to your aid, and the clouds in His majesty.

    Here: "In / for your help": God rides out in order to help you, or as your help. ʿĒzer is concrete rescue, very often in battle, from someone stronger than the one in trouble. The "your" is masculine singular and speaks to Israel as one person.

  3. Deuteronomy 33:29 עֶזְרֶ֔ךָ help your

    Blessed are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the LORD? He is the shield that protects you, the sword in which you boast. Your enemies will cower before you, and you shall trample their high places.”

    Here: 'Your help': the rescue a stronger party brings, usually in war. 'Shield of your help' means the shield that is your help.

Psalms · 11

  1. Psalm 20:2 עֶזְרְךָ֥ help your

    May He send you help from the sanctuary and sustain you from Zion.

  2. Psalm 33:20 עֶזְרֵ֖נוּ [is] help our

    Our soul waits for the LORD; He is our help and our shield.

    Here: 'Our help': the aid that decides the outcome when your own strength is not enough. In the Psalms this is mostly rescue that God brings, often in battle. It does not mean a minor assistant.

  3. Psalm 70:5 עֶזְרִ֣י [are] help my

    But I am poor and needy; hurry to me, O God. You are my help and my deliverer; O LORD, do not delay.

    Here: 'My help', meaning the aid that actually rescues, often from a stronger ally in battle. In the Psalms God is the usual 'ezer of Israel. Psalm 40:17 has the feminine form 'ezrati, with the same meaning.

  4. Psalm 89:19 עֵ֭זֶר help

    You once spoke in a vision; to Your godly ones You said, “I have bestowed help on a warrior; I have exalted one chosen from the people.

    Here: 'Help.' In the Bible this usually means decisive rescue from a stronger party, very often God's help in battle. A related root may mean 'strength', and some suggest the word was once 'crown' (see studies).

  5. Psalm 115:9 עֶזְרָ֖ם [is] help their

    O Israel, trust in the LORD! He is their help and shield.

    Here: 'Their help'. In the Psalms this is the aid that arrives from outside, often a stronger ally rescuing someone who cannot save himself, and often in a military setting. It names God as the one who comes to the rescue, not as a minor assistant.

  6. Psalm 115:10 עֶזְרָ֖ם [is] help their

    O house of Aaron, trust in the LORD! He is their help and shield.

    Here: 'Their help': aid that saves, often reinforcements arriving in battle. It is a word used mostly of God and implies no lower rank.

  7. Psalm 115:11 עֶזְרָ֖ם [is] help their

    You who fear the LORD, trust in the LORD! He is their help and shield.

    Here: "Their help": aid that comes from outside when you cannot save yourself, often military rescue. In the Psalms it is almost always used of God.

  8. Psalm 121:1 עֶזְרִֽי׃ help my

    A song of ascents. I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come?

    Here: "My help." The Hebrew word usually means real rescue or support from someone stronger, and most often it is God's. Verse 2 starts with this same word, picking up the question and answering it.

  9. Psalm 121:2 עֶ֭זְרִי help my

    My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.

    Here: "My help": the decisive aid a person in danger needs, often from someone stronger. It repeats the last word of verse 1 ("from where will my help come?"), so the answer picks up the question with the same word.

  10. Psalm 124:8 עֶ֭זְרֵנוּ help our

    Our help is in the name of the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.

    Here: "Our help": the rescue that came to the community when it was about to be swallowed (vv. 1–7). It comes first in the sentence for emphasis, and the "our" ties the line to the whole congregation speaking together ("let Israel now say," v. 1).

  11. Psalm 146:5 בְּעֶזְר֑וֹ [is] <in> help his

    Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God,

    Here: 'As his help.' The preposition 'be-' here means 'in the role of,' so God himself is the help. The word normally means rescue by someone stronger, often in battle, not minor assistance.

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 30:5 לְעֵ֙זֶר֙ for help

    everyone will be put to shame because of a people useless to them. They bring neither help nor benefit, but only shame and disgrace.”

Ezekiel · 1

  1. Ezekiel 12:14 עֶזְר֛וֹ help his

    And I will scatter to every wind all the attendants around him and all his troops, and I will draw a sword to chase after them.

Daniel · 1

  1. Daniel 11:34 עֵ֣זֶר help

    Now when they fall, they will be granted a little help, but many will join them insincerely.

Hosea · 1

  1. Hosea 13:9 בְעֶזְרֶֽךָ׃ in helper your

    You are destroyed, O Israel, because you are against Me—against your helper.

    Here: 'In/against your help'. This repeats and defines the 'me' just before it: God is Israel's ʿezer, its rescuer and ally in danger. Read as 'against', the line says Israel has turned on the one power able to save it. Read as 'in', it says Israel's help lies in God alone.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.