EOB: Official Site of the Eastern / Greek Orthodox Bible (Old and New Testament)

Genesis 2:20

EOB (Eastern / Greek Orthodox Bible):

The man named all the livestock, the birds of the sky, and every wild animal. But no suitable helper was found for the man.

EOB Footnote:

The MT includes the phrase “for Adam” (Hebrew: le-adam) specifying that no helper was found “for the man,” which is absent in the LXX Greek text. The LXX reads simply “there was not found a helper like him” without explicitly naming Adam as the one for whom no helper was found.

Other Translations:

KJV (King James Version):

And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.

WEB (World English Bible):

The man gave names to all livestock, and to the birds of the sky, and to every animal of the field; but for man there was not found a helper suitable for him.

Benton LXX (Vaticanus):

And Adam gave names to all the cattle, and to all the birds of the sky, and to all the wild beasts of the field; but for Adam there was not found a help like to himself.

Douai-Rheims (Vulgate):

And Adam called all the beasts by their names, and all the fowls of the air, and all the cattle of the field: but for Adam there was not found a helper like himself.

Apostoliki Diakonia (LXX):

The man gave names to all the cattle, to the birds of the sky, and to every wild animal; but for the man himself, no suitable helper was found.

YLT (Young Literal Translation )(MT):

And the man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for man there was not found a helper as his counterpart.

BBE (Bible in Basic English):

Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field; but no help meet for Adam was found.

EOB COMMENTARY:

EOB Commentary:

THE NAMING OF THE CREATURES

This verse presents Adam in his primordial vocation as priest and prophet of creation, exercising dominion through the sacred act of naming. In the Orthodox understanding, to name something is to perceive its inner essence, its logos—the divine principle by which each creature participates in the Logos of God. Adam’s ability to name the animals reveals the clarity of his nous before the fall, his unclouded spiritual perception that allowed him to see creation as God sees it.

Typological Significance for Christ

The Church Fathers consistently read this passage as pointing toward Christ, the New Adam. Where the first Adam named the beasts and found no suitable helper among them, Christ the Second Adam comes to name and call His own—not from among irrational creatures, but gathering rational souls into His Church. Saint John Chrysostom notes that Adam’s naming demonstrates the original dignity of human nature, a dignity fully restored and elevated in Christ. The Logos Himself, through whom all things were made and who holds the true names of all creatures, becomes incarnate to rename humanity as children of God.

The Search for a Helper

The concluding phrase—that no suitable helper was found for Adam—carries profound theological weight. Saint Ephrem the Syrian observes that this discovery was necessary so that Adam would recognize Eve as bone of his bone when she was presented to him. The loneliness of Adam amid all creation prefigures the loneliness of humanity apart from God, a void that no creature can fill. Only the One who is truly “of the same substance” can be our true Helper. The Church sees here an anticipation of the Theotokos as the New Eve, the true helper in salvation, and ultimately of Christ Himself who becomes our Helper and Advocate.

Liturgical and Spiritual Connections

In Orthodox hymnography, particularly in the services for Great and Holy Saturday, we encounter the theme of Adam’s primordial state and his fall. The naming of creatures reminds us of the royal priesthood to which humanity is called—a theme echoed in baptismal theology where the newly illumined receives a Christian name, entering into a new identity in Christ. The Orthodox understanding of human vocation as mediator between God and creation, as cosmic priest who offers creation back to the Creator, finds its foundation in this ancient scene of Adam naming the animals in Paradise.

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