Nakedness

Vine's Expository Dictionary of OT Words

A. Nouns.

‛Ervâh ( עֶרְוָה , Strong'S #6172), “nakedness; indecent thing.” Thirty-two of the 53 occurrences of this noun are in the social laws of Lev. 18, 20. The rest of its appearances are scattered throughout the various periods of Old Testament literature with the notable exception of poetical literature.

This word represents male or female sexual organs. In its first biblical appearance ‛ervâh implies shameful exposure: “And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father.… 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” (Gen. 9:22-23). This word is often used of female nakedness (the uncovered sex organs) and is symbolical of shame. In Lam. 1:8 plundered, devastated Jerusalem is pictured as a woman whose nakedness is exposed. To uncover one’s nakedness is a frequent euphemism for cohabitation: “None of you shall approach to any that is near of kin to him, to uncover their nakedness: I am the Lord” (Lev. 18:6).

The phrase “indecent thing” represents any uncleanness in a military camp or any violation of the laws of sexual abstinence—nocturnal emission not properly cleansed, sexual cohabitation and other laws of purity (for example, excrement buried in the camp): “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 [literally, “a matter of an indecent thing”] in thee, and turn away from thee” (Deut. 23:14). In Deut. 24:1 ‛ervâh appears to bear this emphasis on any violation of the laws of purity—if a groom is dissatisfied with his bride “because he hath found some uncleanness in her,” he may divorce her. Obviously this evidence is not of previous cohabitation, since such a sin merits death (Deut. 22:13ff.).

The “undefended parts” or “nakedness” of a land is represented by ‛ervâh in Gen. 42:9: “Ye are spies; to see the nakedness of the land ye are come.”

Other nouns related to this word appear less often. Ma’ar , which refers to “sexual nakedness,” appears in a figurative sense in Nah. 3:5. ‘Erom appears as a noun abstract in several instances. This word represents the more general idea of being without clothes, with no necessary suggestion of shamefulness; it means the “state of being unclothed.” In Ezek. 16:7, 39 the word ‘erom appears as “naked,” but it can literally be translated as “nakedness” or one being in his “nakedness.”

Two nouns, ta’ar and morah, have a different significance. Ta’ar which occurs 13 times, means “razor” (Num. 6:5) or a “knife” to sharpen scribal pens (Jer. 36:23). The word’s meaning of a “sword sheath” (1 Sam. 17:51) has a cognate in Ugaritic. Morah also means “razor”(1 Sam. 1:11).

B. Adjectives.

‛Ârôm ( עָרֹם , Strong'S #6174), or ‛Ârôm (עָרוֺם, Strong'S #6174), “naked.” This word occurs 16 times. The first occurrence is in Gen. 2:25: “And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.”

Another adjective, found 6 times in biblical poetry, is ‘eryah . It appears to be a variant spelling of ’erwah. —One appearance is in Ezek. 16:22: “… When thou wast naked and bare.…”

C. Verb.

‛Ârâh ( עָרָה , Strong'S #6168), “to pour out, make bare, destroy, spread oneself out.” This verb, which appears 14 times in biblical Hebrew, has cognates in Akkadian, Phoenician, Egyptian, and Syriac. The word means “to pour out” in Isa. 32:15: " Until the spirit be poured upon us from on high.…” The verb implies “to make bare” in Lev. 20:19. ‛Ârâh is used in the sense of “to destroy” in Isa. 3:17: “Therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the Lord will discover their secret parts.” In Ps. 37:35 the word means “to spread oneself out.”

Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament

NAKEDNESS ( γυμνότης).—Oriental dress is generally a draping of the figure in one or more continuous gowns or cloaks. The clothing may be drawn to the body by the waist-band or sash, but the tendency is to avoid as far as possible any exact shaping and rigid fastening of the costume, as such close adaptation to the figure is considered both immodest and undecorative, and in a warm climate would cause friction and perspiration ( Ezekiel 44:18). With Orientals, to a greater extent than in the West, out-door dress carries a meaning of investiture and embellishment, with a consciousness of self-appreciation and an expectation of comment. This is partly because in the daytime, in the retirement of the family, they undress more than is customary in the West. In the OT, the garments that were continually put on and off, as one went out and returned to the house, were called suits of apparel or exchange ( Judges 17:10,  Isaiah 3:22). The cotton or linen gown worn beneath these is the permanent under-garment, and any one wearing only this is conventionally said to be naked or unclothed. In this loose costume—a long robe reaching to the feet—members of the family, both male and female, attend to their active household duties, or enjoy the passive luxury of the unoccupied hour. It is, however, unbecoming to receive visitors in such undress, and hence the impropriety of entering without due announcement and permission received, or of looking down from the flat roof of the house into a neighbour’s enclosure. The linen cloth mentioned in  Mark 14:51-52 was a substitute for the ordinary under-garment. The solitary fisherman when diving from the side of the Lake of Galilee after his cast-net usually divests himself of all clothing. The same is frequently done in summer weather when fishermen haul the drag-net into the boat ( John 21:7), or a loincloth is worn, as in the case of the tanner and potter at their work.

Nakedness thus means: (1) the state of undress permitted in Oriental family life, and preferred as an adaptation to the climate; (2) insufficiency, amounting sometimes to complete want, of clothing, involving discomfort and suffering in the case of the poor and destitute ( Matthew 25:36,  Romans 8:35,  2 Corinthians 11:27); (3) the nudity connected with immodest behaviour ( Exodus 20:26), or inflicted as a humiliation on prisoners of war ( Isaiah 20:4); and (4) in a metaphorical sense, unnatural and shameless disloyalty to God ( Ezekiel 23:29,  Revelation 3:18).

G. M. Mackie.

Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary

NUDITY. These terms, beside their ordinary and literal meaning, sometimes signify void of succour, disarmed. So, after worshipping the golden calf, the Israelites found themselves naked in the midst of their enemies. "Nakedness of the feet" was a token of respect. Moses put off his shoes to approach the burning bush. Most commentators are of opinion, that the priests served in the tabernacle with their feet naked; and afterward in the temple. In the enumeration that Moses makes of the habit and ornaments of the priests, he no where mentions any dress for the feet. Also the frequent ablutions appointed them in the temple seem to imply that their feet were naked. To uncover the nakedness of any one, is commonly put for a shameful and unlawful conjunction, or an incestuous marriage,  Leviticus 20:19;  Ezekiel 16:37 . Nakedness is sometimes put for being partly undressed; en deshabille. Saul continued naked among the prophets; that is, having only his under garments on. Isaiah received orders from the Lord to go naked; that is, clothed as a slave, half clad.

Thus it is recommended to clothe the naked; that is, such as are ill clothed. St. Paul says, that he was in cold, in nakedness; that is, in poverty, and want of raiment. Naked is put for discovered, known, manifest. So  Job 26:6 : "Hell is naked before him." The sepulchre, the unseen state, 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,"  Hebrews 4:13 .

King James Dictionary

NAKEDNESS, n.

1. Want of covering or clothing nudity bareness. 2. Want of means of defense.

Ye are spies to see the nakedness of the land are ye come.  Genesis 42 .

3. Plainness openness to view.

To uncover nakedness, in Scripture, is to have incestuous or unlawful commerce with a female.

Webster's Dictionary

(1): ( n.) The privy parts; the genitals.

(2): ( n.) The condition of being naked.

Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary

See Naked