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, in1Co 4:11. InEx 32:25;2Ch 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 inJoh 21:7--Peter was wearing only the chiton (see DRESS); and so perhaps inMr 14:51,52andMic 1:8. InIsa 20:2-4, however, the meaning is literally (for the "three years" ofIsa 20:3see the commentaries). So inGe 2:25;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;1Co 4:11, etc.), whence, of course, the expression "clothe naked." "Nakedness," in addition, is used as an euphemism in1Sa 20:30. A slightly different euphemistic usage is that ofLe 18:19, which inEze 16:36,37is played off against the literal sense (compareEze 22:10;23:18,29). The point ofGe 9:22,23is a little hard to grasp, but apparently there is here again an euphemism--this time for a particularly horrible act (see the commentaries and compareHab 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 (Isa 20:2-4;La 1:8;Ho 2:3;Na 3:5, etc.). The relation of this attitude to Israel's high sexual morality needs no explanation.
Buroton Scott Easton