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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadInternational Standard Bible Encyclopedia: Naked; Nakedness
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nā´ked, nā´ked-nes: “Naked†in the Old Testament represents various derivatives of עוּר, ‛uÌ„r and ערה, ‛aÌ„raÌ„h chiefly, ערו×, ‛aÌ„roÌ„m (adj.) and ערוה, ‛erwaÌ„h (noun); in the New Testament the adjective is ψυμνοÌÏ‚, gumnoÌs, the noun γυμνοÌτης, gumnoÌteÌ„s, with verb γυμνητευÌω, gumneÌ„teuÌoÌ„, in . In ; , the King James Version adds פּרע, paÌ„ra', “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 - Peter was wearing only the chitoÌ„n (see DRESS); and so perhaps in -52 and . In -4, however, the meaning is literally (for the “three years†of see the commentaries). So in ; , where the act of sin is immediately followed by the sense of shame (see Delitzsch, Biblical Psychology, and Gunkel, ad loc.). A very common use of “naked†is also “without proper clothing†(; , etc.), whence, of course, the expression “clothe the naked.†“Nakedness,†in addition, is used as a euphemism in . A slightly different euphemistic usage is that of , which in -37 is played off against the literal sense (compare ; , ). The point of -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 ). Possibly some of these euphemisms are due to the Massoretes (see OLD TESTAMENT TEXTS). 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 (-4; ; ; , etc.). The relation of this attitude to Israel's high sexual morality needs no explanation.