Hebrew word · H5903

עֵירֹם

'eirom

naked

Naked, bare, exposed. It sits close to ʿārôm (naked, 2:25), but ʿêrōm is used outside Genesis 3 almost always for degrading or desperate exposure: the destitute, the defeated, the abandoned (Deut 28:48; Ezek 16:7, 22, 39; 18:7, 16; 23:29).

Appears 10 times in 10 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

adj

1) naked

n m

2) 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 Genesis 3:7

Range of meaning

Naked, bare, exposed. It sits close to ʿārôm (naked, 2:25), but ʿêrōm is used outside Genesis 3 almost always for degrading or desperate exposure: the destitute, the defeated, the abandoned (Deut 28:48; Ezek 16:7, 22, 39; 18:7, 16; 23:29).

Against the English

English "naked" is the right word, but modern readers mostly hear sexual exposure or immodesty. The Hebrew word includes exposure of the body, but it also carries defencelessness, poverty and humiliation. It is the nakedness of a captive or a beggar.

How it drifted

Western interpretation, strongly influenced by Augustine (City of God 14.17), read the shame of 3:7 mainly as shame over sexual desire. That made the sexual sense dominant in readers' minds.

Used elsewhere in the period

Deut 28:48 lists "hunger, thirst, nakedness (ʿêrōm) and lack of everything" among the curses of exile. In Ezek 16:7, 22, 39 the abandoned infant and the stripped city are "naked and bare." Ezek 18:7 says the righteous man "covers the naked." The near-synonym ʿārôm appears in Isa 20:2–4, where captives are led away naked, and in Job 1:21, "naked I came… naked I return."

From the study of Ezekiel 18:16

Range of meaning

Naked or bare. It can mean completely without clothes, but very often it means stripped of the outer garment or poorly clothed, which is the condition of the destitute, of captives and of those whose cloaks had been taken.

Against the English

English 'the naked' suggests total nudity. The Hebrew picture is usually a person without the cloak needed for warmth and decency, often because a creditor took it.

How it drifted

Modern 'naked' is absolute. The Hebrew word covered a range that included being poorly or partly clothed.

Used elsewhere in the period

Job 22:6 ('you … stripped the naked of their clothing', where pledge-taking is the cause); Job 24:7, 10 ('they go about naked, without clothing'); Isa 58:7; Isa 20:2–4 (Isaiah goes 'naked and barefoot', stripped down like a captive). Gen 3:7, 10–11 uses the same spelling.

From the study of Ezekiel 18:7

Range of meaning

Naked or bare. In contexts of poverty it often means inadequately clothed: lacking the outer cloak, in rags, exposed to cold and shame. It is related to ʿārôm, which can describe someone stripped of their outer garment (compare Job 22:6, "stripped the naked of their clothing", which only makes sense if they still had something to lose).

Against the English

Every major translation uses "naked". That is accurate as a word, but modern readers picture complete nudity, while an ancient hearer would mainly picture a destitute person without enough clothing.

How it drifted

English "naked" has narrowed to mean fully unclothed. The Hebrew could mean that, and also "poorly clothed".

Used elsewhere in the period

Isaiah 58:7 ("when you see the naked, to cover him"); Job 24:7, 10 (the poor "lie all night naked, without clothing… without covering in the cold"); Job 31:19–20. Egyptian tomb inscriptions from the Old Kingdom onward, and the declarations in Book of the Dead chapter 125, use the same pair of boasts: "I gave bread to the hungry and clothing to the naked."

Where it appears

Genesis · 3

  1. Genesis 3:7 עֵֽירֻמִּ֖ם [were] naked

    And the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; so they sewed together fig leaves and made coverings for themselves.

    Here: "Naked." It sounds very like the word for the serpent's "craftiness" (ʿārûm, 3:1). This form of the word is used elsewhere for people left exposed and destitute, so the nakedness here carries vulnerability and humiliation, not only lack of clothes.

  2. Genesis 3:10 עֵירֹ֥ם [was] naked

    “I heard Your voice in the garden,” he replied, “and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.”

    Here: Naked in the sense of exposed and unprotected. Elsewhere this word describes captives, the destitute and the shamed. It differs from the word for the couple's untroubled nakedness in 2:25 (ʿarummim), and the man still says it even though he is now wearing fig-leaf coverings (3:7).

  3. Genesis 3:11 עֵירֹ֖ם [were] naked

    “Who told you that you were naked?” asked the LORD God. “Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”

Deuteronomy · 1

  1. Deuteronomy 28:48 וּבְעֵירֹ֖ם and in nakedness

    you will serve your enemies the LORD will send against you in famine, thirst, nakedness, and destitution. He will place an iron yoke on your neck until He has destroyed you.

    Here: Being stripped, the condition of captives and slaves, and a mark of total shame and exposure. It is not just a lack of nice clothes.

Ezekiel · 6

  1. Ezekiel 16:7 עֵרֹ֥ם [were] nakedness

    I made you thrive like a plant of the field. You grew up and matured and became very beautiful. Your breasts were formed and your hair grew, but you were naked and bare.

    Here: 'Naked.' Elsewhere this word goes with poverty, curse and shame (Deuteronomy 28:48; Genesis 3:7–11). It describes a person nobody has clothed or provided for.

  2. Ezekiel 16:22 עֵרֹ֣ם nakedness

    And in all your abominations and acts of prostitution, you did not remember the days of your youth when you were naked and bare, wallowing in your own blood.

  3. Ezekiel 16:39 עֵירֹ֥ם nakedness

    Then I will deliver you into the hands of your lovers, and they will level your mounds and tear down your lofty shrines. They will strip off your clothes, take your fine jewelry, and leave you naked and bare.

  4. Ezekiel 18:7 וְעֵירֹ֖ם and [the] naked

    He does not oppress another, but restores the pledge to the debtor. He does not commit robbery, but gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing.

    Here: "And the naked": a person without proper clothing, which usually meant without the outer cloak needed for warmth and decency. It does not have to mean completely unclothed.

  5. Ezekiel 18:16 וְעֵר֖וֹם and [the] naked

    He does not oppress another, or retain a pledge, or commit robbery. He gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing.

    Here: 'And a naked person.' Someone without adequate clothing, often having lost the outer cloak that served as coat and blanket. It does not necessarily mean fully unclothed.

  6. Ezekiel 23:29 עֵירֹ֣ם nakedness

    They will treat you with hatred, take all for which you have worked, and leave you naked and bare, so that the shame of your prostitution will be exposed. Your indecency and promiscuity

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