Nakedness

The usage of the words "naked" and "nakedness" in the Bible are quite different from the common usage of today. The common usage of these words today is that the nakedness is merely the state of being naked, with naked simply meaning "without clothing". But the Bible uses these words in completely different contexts that only sometimes overlaps.

Usage of "Naked"

There are two Hebrew words translated as "naked" in the Bible. These words are "arom" and "erom". The former simply means "without clothing" while the latter is used in a more figurative sense, emphasizing vulnerability. There are also two Greek words translated as "naked": "gymnos" and "gymneteuo", which mean "without clothes", and "poorly clothed" or "minimally clothed" respectively. The latter is only used once, in 1 Corinthians 4:11, which says, "Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwellingplace;" [AKJV]. Gymnos is used to represent both physical and spiritual nakedness.

Without Clothing

Old Testament

The Hebrew word used to describe physical nakedness is "arom is used 16 times in the Old Testament. It's first appearance is in Genesis 2:25. Wherever this word appears in the old testament, it means to be completely naked. The following is a list of all of the verses that use "arom".

"And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed." [Genesis 2:25 (AKJV)]

"And he stripped off his clothes also, and prophesied before Samuel in like manner, and lay down naked all that day and all that night. Wherefore they say, Is Saul also among the prophets?" [1 Samuel 19:24 (AKJV)]

"And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD." [Job 1:21 (AKJV)]

"For thou hast taken a pledge from thy brother for nought, and stripped the naked of their clothing." [Job 22:6 (AKJV)]

"They cause the naked to lodge without clothing, that they have no covering in the cold." [Job 24:7 (AKJV)]

"They cause him to go naked without clothing, and they take away the sheaf from the hungry;" [Job 24:10 (AKJV)]

"Hell is naked before him, and destruction hath no covering." [Job 26:6 (AKJV)]

"As he came forth of his mother’s womb, naked shall he return to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his labour, which he may carry away in his hand." [Ecclesiastes 5:15 (AKJV)]

"2 at the same time spake the Lord by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, Go and loose the sackcloth from off thy loins, and put off thy shoe from thy foot. And he did so, walking naked and barefoot. 3 And the Lord said, Like as my servant Isaiah hath walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and wonder upon Egypt and upon Ethiopia; 4 so shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians prisoners, and the Ethiopians captives, young and old, naked and barefoot, even with their buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt." [Isaiah 20:2-4 (AKJV)]

"Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?" [Isaiah 58:7 (AKJV)]

"Lest I strip her naked, and set her as in the day that she was born, and make her as a wilderness, and set her like a dry land, and slay her with thirst." [Hosea 2:3 (AKJV)]

"And he that is courageous among the mighty shall flee away naked in that day, saith the LORD." [Amos 2:16 (AKJV)]

"Therefore I will wail and howl, I will go stripped and naked: I will make a wailing like the dragons, and mourning as the owls." [Micah 1:8 (AKJV)]

New Testament

The New Testament uses the Greek word "gymnos" to mean "without clothes", but this usage can refer to the absence of physical clothing, or spiritual clothing. And with the exception of 1 Corinthians 15:37, it is always used to refer to being physically or spiritually naked. When used in the context of physical clothing, it always means to be completely naked. The following are the verses where "gymnos" are used to refer to being physically naked.

"naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me." [Matthew 25:36 (AKJV)]

"When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?" [Matthew 25:38 (AKJV)]

"43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. 44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?" [Matthew 25:43-44 (AKJV)]

"51 And there followed him a certain young man, having a linen cloth cast about his naked body; and the young men laid hold on him: 52 and he left the linen cloth, and fled from them naked." [Mark 14:51-52 (AKJV)]

"Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter, It is the Lord. Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt his fisher’s coat unto him, (for he was naked,) and did cast himself into the sea." [John 21:7(AKJV)]

"And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded." [Act 19:16 (AKJV)]

"Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do." [Hebrews 4:13 (AKJV)]

"If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food," [James 2:15 (AKJV)]

"And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire." [Revelation 17:16 (AKJV)]

Vulnerable

In the "Old Testament", the Hebrew word "erom" is used to emphasize vulnerability. Sometimes this overlaps with being physically naked, but not always. Erom is often used in the context of judgement, where someone is stripped of their clothing as punishment for their sins. The double-meaning of the word "erom" makes for some interesting word play. There are places where the usage of this word may be interpreted as being spiritually naked. The following is a list of instances where "erom" appears in the Old Testament.

"And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons." [Genesis 3:7 (AKJV)]

"10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. 11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?" [Genesis 3:10-11 (AKJV)]

"therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the Lord shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee." [Deuteronomy 28:48 (AKJV)]

"I have caused thee to multiply as the bud of the field, and thou hast increased and waxen great, and thou art come to excellent ornaments: thy breasts are fashioned, and thine hair is grown, whereas thou wast naked and bare." [Ezekiel 16:7 (AKJV)]

"And in all thine abominations and thy whoredoms thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, when thou wast naked and bare, and wast polluted in thy blood." [Ezekiel 16:22 (AKJV)]

"And I will also give thee into their hand, and they shall throw down thine eminent place, and shall break down thy high places: they shall strip thee also of thy clothes, and shall take thy fair jewels, and leave thee naked and bare." [Ezekiel 16:39 (AKJV)]

"and hath not oppressed any, but hath restored to the debtor his pledge, hath spoiled none by violence, hath given his bread to the hungry, and hath covered the naked with a garment;" [Ezekiel 18:7 (AKJV)]

"neither hath oppressed any, hath not withholden the pledge, neither hath spoiled by violence, but hath given his bread to the hungry, and hath covered the naked with a garment," [Ezekiel 18:16 (AKJV)]

"and they shall deal with thee hatefully, and shall take away all thy labour, and shall leave thee naked and bare: and the nakedness of thy whoredoms shall be discovered, both thy lewdness and thy whoredoms." [Ezekiel 23:29 (AKJV)]

Usage of "Nakedness"

The Hebrew word translated as "nakedness" is "erva", which does not refer to physical nakedness very often. It's usually used idiomatically to refer to vulnerability, shame, male to female sexual relationships, or physical uncleanliness. Sometimes, multiple meanings of the word can be used at once. This site's default interpretation of "erva" will always exclude physical nakedness unless there are multiple indications from the context that the word is being used to refer to physical nakedness.

Without Clothing

"Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be seen: I will take vengeance, and I will not meet thee as a man." [Isaiah 47:3 (AKJV)]

"Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness: yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord God, and thou becamest mine." [Ezekiel 16:8 (AKJV)]

"Therefore will I return, and take away my corn in the time thereof, and my wine in the season thereof, and will recover my wool and my flax given to cover her nakedness." [Hosea 2:9 (AKJV)]

Uncleanliness

"Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon." [Exodus 20:26 (AKJV)]

"And thou shalt make them linen breeches to cover their nakedness; from the loins even unto the thighs they shall reach:" [Exodus 28:42 (AKJV)]

"for the Lord thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp, to deliver thee, and to give up thine enemies before thee; therefore shall thy camp be holy: that he see no unclean thing in thee, and turn away from thee." [Deuteronomy 23:14 (AKJV)]

Sexual Relationships

The phrase "to uncover someone's nakedness" or "to see someone's nakedness" always refers to male to female sexual relationships outside of prophetic contexts. Sometimes (such as with Ham's sin), erva has a double-meaning wherever the text indicates such a meaning is used.

"22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without. 23 And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father’s nakedness." [Genesis 9:22-23 (AKJV)]