Then the LORD God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”
18. It is not good that the man should be alone “Non est bonum ut sit Adam solus.” This is a variation from Calvin’s text, which has man instead of Adam; as the English version has. The word אדם stands for both.
God pitied man's solitude not from cruelty but as proof of fatherly care. Man is made for society, to exchange knowledge and love with his own kind; perfect solitude would turn paradise itself into a desert. A companion of the same nature was needful both for his comfort and for the continuance of mankind.
AI summary
Commenting on Genesis 2:18-20
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...