Hebrew word · H4636
מַעֲרֹם
ma'arumeihem
naked
Naked, stripped. From the same root as עָרוֹם, 'naked', which can cover anything from fully nude to stripped of outer clothing (1 Sam 19:24; Isa 20:2–4).
Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
naked thing, nakedness
Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).
In depth
From the study of 2 Chronicles 28:15
- Range of meaning
Naked, stripped. From the same root as עָרוֹם, 'naked', which can cover anything from fully nude to stripped of outer clothing (1 Sam 19:24; Isa 20:2–4).
- Against the English
English 'naked' is accurate. The rare Hebrew noun puts the stress on these people as a category: 'the naked ones among them'.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Isaiah 20:4 describes Assyria leading Egyptian captives 'naked and barefoot', and Assyrian palace reliefs show deportees stripped or nearly so. Stripping captives was standard practice and a deliberate humiliation.
Where it appears
2 Chronicles · 1
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2 Chronicles 28:15 מַעֲרֻמֵּיהֶם֮ naked people their
Then the men who were designated by name arose, took charge of the captives, and provided from the plunder clothing for the naked. They clothed them, gave them sandals and food and drink, anointed their wounds, and put all the feeble on donkeys. So they brought them to Jericho, the City of Palms, to their brothers. Then they returned to Samaria.
Here: A rare word, used here for people. It means those among them who had been stripped. Ancient captives were often marched off stripped and barefoot as a mark of humiliation.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.