Then the LORD God said: Then (Hebrew waw) now shifts the action forward to the beginning of the next episode. In languages in which it is necessary to show whom God addresses these words to, it may be necessary to say, for example, “Then the LORD God said to himself” or “… thought these words.”

It is not good that the man should be alone: It is must be supplied in this kind of English construction. Hebrew has “not good the man being alone.” This may also be rendered “For the man to remain alone is not good for him” or “Being alone does the man no good.” If necessary this may be translated negatively, “For the man to be alone does him harm.” To be alone is not a momentary state but a permanent one, and so Good News Translation has “to live alone.” In some languages this usage of the verb “to be” is expressed by a verb meaning “to sit,” and so “It does not do the man good to sit alone.”

I will make a helper fit for him: some languages may need a transitional word such as “therefore” to relate this clause to the previous one. Helper means “support,” and this should be taken in the widest sense. The root word is used in Psa 121.1, “From whence does my help come? My help comes from the LORD.” See also Exo 18.4; Deut 33.7. Fit for him is literally “alongside him” or “corresponding to him.” The sense is “suitable for him, adequate for him,” or perhaps even “like him.” Bible en français courant translates “I will make him a helper who will be a partner for him.” Good News Translation and others have “suitable companion.”

Care should be given to the translation of helper, since in some languages the term may have the sense of “servant,” “waiter,” “one who works under another.” A word suggesting a person who carries out menial tasks for a superior is to be avoided. In many cases it is possible to use a verb phrase; for example, “a companion, partner, mate, to work with him.”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Genesis. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .