Greek word · G1130

γυμνητεύω, γυμνιτεύω

gymnēteuō, gymniteuō

be naked

Built on γυμνός ('bare, lightly clad'). It means 'to be lightly or scantily clothed' and could describe a light-armed soldier without heavy armour. Applied to people, it means going about poorly dressed, with only an undergarment or worn clothes and no outer cloak.

Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

γυμνιτεύω (Rec. γυμνητ-, V. Tdf ., Pr., 81),

to be naked or scantily clad: 1 Corinthians 4:11 (cf. ἐν ψύχει κ. γυμνότητι), 2 Corinthians 11:27; γυμνοί, James 2:15. In κοινή writers, γ. also means to go light-armed.†

(AS)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of 1 Corinthians 4:11

Range of meaning

Built on γυμνός ('bare, lightly clad'). It means 'to be lightly or scantily clothed' and could describe a light-armed soldier without heavy armour. Applied to people, it means going about poorly dressed, with only an undergarment or worn clothes and no outer cloak. BDAG: 'be poorly clothed, be scantily clad'.

Against the English

KJV, WEB and YLT have 'are naked'. BSB and most modern versions say 'poorly clothed' or 'in rags'. 'Naked' sounds like total exposure to a modern ear. The Greek γυμνός family often means only 'without the outer garment'.

How it drifted

In 1611 'naked' was regularly used of someone poorly or partly clothed (compare KJV John 21:7, where Peter is 'naked' while fishing, most likely stripped down to work). Today the word has narrowed to 'wearing nothing'.

Used elsewhere in the period

The word is rare and appears only here in the Greek Bible. Related γυμνός is used in this 'ill-clad' sense in Matt 25:36 ('I was naked and you clothed me'), James 2:15 and Paul's own hardship list in 2 Cor 11:27 ('in cold and nakedness'). In classical and later Greek, γυμνῆτες are lightly armed troops (LSJ).

Where it appears

1 Corinthians · 1

  1. 1 Corinthians 4:11 γυμνιτεύομεν are poorly clad

    To this very hour we are hungry and thirsty, we are poorly clothed, we are brutally treated, we are homeless.

    Here: A rare word. It means 'we go about in too little clothing': ragged, without a proper cloak, not fully naked. In that society clothing showed rank, so this is also a mark of low status.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.