The meaning of Naked; Nakedness in the Bible
(From International Standard Bible Encyclopedia)
na'-ked, na'-ked-nes: "Naked" in the Old Testament represents various derivatives of 'ur and 'arah chiefly, 'arom (adj.) and 'erwah (noun); in the New Testament the adjective is gumnos, the noun gumnotes, with verb gumneteuo, in I Corinthians 4:11. In Exodus 32:25; II Chronicles 28:19, the King James Version adds para', "break loose," "cast away restraint." Both the Greek and Hebrew forms mean "without clothing," but in both languages they, are used frequently in the sense of "lightly clad" or, simply, "without an outer garment." So, probably, is the meaning in John 21:7 —Peter was wearing only the chiton (see DRESS); and so perhaps in Mark 14:51-52 and Micah 1:8. In Isaiah 20:2-4, however, the meaning is literally (for the "three years" of Isaiah 20:3 see the commentaries). So in Genesis 2:25; Genesis 3:7, where the act of sin is immediately followed by the sense of shame (see Delitzsch, Biblical Psychology, and Gunkel, at the place). A very common use of "naked" is also "without proper clothing" (Job 22:6; I Corinthians 4:11, etc.), whence, of course, the expression "clothe naked." "Nakedness," in addition, is used as a euphemism in I Samuel 20:30. A slightly different euphemistic usage is that of Leviticus 18:19, which in Ezekiel 16:36-37 is played off against the literal sense (compare Ezekiel 22:10; Ezekiel 23:18, Ezekiel 23:29). The point of Genesis 9:22-23 is a little hard to grasp, but apparently there is here again a euphemism—this time for a particularly horrible act (see the commentaries and compare Habakkuk 2:15). Possibly some of these euphemisms are due to the Massoretes (see TEXT OF THE OLD TESTAMENT). The Jews objected vigorously to exposure of the body (even athletes insisting on a loin-cloth (compare 2 Macc 4:12-13)), and compulsory nudity was the extreme of shame and humiliation (Isaiah 20:2-4; Lamentations 1:8; Hosea 2:3; Nahum 3:5, etc.). The relation of this attitude to Israel's high sexual morality needs no explanation.
Buroton Scott Easton
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