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The Hebrew word òָøåֹí , arom', rendered "naked" in our Bibles, means absolute nakedness in such passages as Job_1:21; Ecc_5:15; Mic_1:8; Amo_2:16; but in other places it means one who is ragged or poorly clad (Joh_21:7; Isa_58:7), in the same sense as ãõìíüò in Jam_2:15, which does not indeed differ from a familiar application of the word "naked" among ourselves. A more peculiar and Oriental sense of the word is that in which it is applied to one who has laid aside his loose outer garment, and goes about in his tunic. When, therefore, Saul is described as having lain down "naked" (1Sa_19:24), we are to understand that he had laid aside his flowing outer robe; and it was thus that Isaiah went "naked" and barefoot (Isa_20:2; comp. Joh_21:7). Our use of the word "undress," to denote simply a dress less than that which we consider full and complete, corresponds to this signification of the word. SEE DRESS.
This word is also used metaphorically to signifyput to shame, stripped of resources, void of succor, disarmed. Thus in Jer_49:10, "I have made Esau bare," etc., signifies the destruction of the Edomites, God having exposed them defenceless to their invaders. The "nakedness of a land" (Gen_42:9) signifies the weak and ruined parts of it where the country lies most open and exposed to danger. "Naked" is also put for discovered, known, manifest. So in Job_26:6, "Hell is naked before him;" the unseen state of the dead is open to the eyes of God. St. Paul says in the same sense, "Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight; but all things are naked and open unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do" (Heb_4:13). Nakedness also signifies sin or folly. Thus in Gen_3:7 it is indicative of sin in general; in Exo_32:25; 2Ch_28:19; Eze_16:36, it is put for idolatry; and elsewhere in the Scriptures for all kinds of vice, but idolatry in particular.