It is my contention that the root עזר in Biblical Hebrew often has a sense of more than just “helping”, but specifically means to help or save in battle, and is in fact synonymous with ישע.  The best example for this is from a Rabbinic – not Biblical – phrase that many Jews repeat three times daily: מלך עוזר ומושיע ומגן.  If עוזר means just to help, it doesn’t really belong with מושיע and מגן.

What exactly עוזר ומושיע ומגן have to do with the rest of the ברכה of אבות is a discussion for another time.

Three examples from the beginning of יהושע will make the point for now:

יהושע י:ד          עלו אלי ועזרני ונכה את גבעון

יהושע י: ו          עלה אלינו מהרה והושיעה לנו ועזרנו

יהושע י:לג          אז עלה הרם מלך גזר לעזר את לכיש

The root עזר occurs 294 times in תנ”ך and a full study of all of them is required in order to fully understand the exact sense of the word.

(72 of these are the name אלעזר and another 14 are the name אליעזר)

Another good example is in I Samuel 7:13 where Samuel takes a stone and makes it a monument at אבן העזר where he says עד הנה עזרנו יי.