Language Studies

Hebrew Thoughts

‘êyrôm, ‘ârôwm - עֵירם, עָרוּם (Strong's #6175)
Naked

"Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked;" (Genesis 3:7 עָרוּם ‘ârôwm (Strong's #6174, x16) and Genesis 3:7 עֵיר^•ם ‘êyrôm (Strong's #5903, x10) in the description of man and his fall. They both derive from the root verb עָרַם ‘âram (Strong's #6191) which significantly also shares a primary syllable with עָרַה ‘ârah (Strong's #6168), "to make naked".

In Genesis 2:25 the first humans are described as עָרוּם ‘ârôwm "naked" and "not ashamed" (בּוּשׁ bûwsh, Strong's #954) unlike the next instance of this word when Saul strips off his clothes and prophesies naked before Samuel (1 Samuel 19:24). Whether Saul was "in the spirit" or not is a difficult question; Isaiah, on the otherhand, was commanded by God to do likewise for 3 whole years (Isaiah 20:2-3) although some regard naked as ill-clad (Gesenius), merely without the outer garment, but where would be the sign or shock in that? Most likely it refers to one at least without a cloak and upper garment.

The remaining uses of this word are scattered between Job (cf. 24:7,10; 26:6) and the Prophets. Most famously,

"Naked I came from my mother's womb, And naked shall I return there.
The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; Blessed be the name of the LORD."
(Job 1:21; echoed in Ecclesiastes 5:15; Hosea 2:3 also speaking of a newborn's nakedness)

Later in Job Eliphaz accuses Job, "you have taken pledges from your brother for no reason, And stripped the naked of their clothing" (Job 22:6, KJV, JPS et al); spot the tangled logic! How can you strip the naked? Here the much berated NIV makes more sense, "stripped men of their clothing, making them naked". The Hebrew is difficult for "naked" is an adjective, reading in an unusual Hebrew word order "clothes-of naked you-strip". Isaiah regards true worship and religion, just as Jesus did, as covering and clothing the naked (58:7; cf. Ezekiel 18:7,16).

The variant word עֵיר^•ם ‘êyrôm first occurs a chapter after עָרוּם ‘ârôwm in the tempting and fall of man (Genesis 3:7,10,11). The occurence of עָרוּם ‘ârûwm (Strong's #6175) "crafty, subtil" in Genesis 3:1 to describe the serpent plays on the same root verb and means shrewd or able to uncover, in this instance leading to man's self-knowing, uncovering and undoing.

Apart from Deuteronomy 28:48 עֵיר^•ם ‘êyrôm only occurs again in Ezekiel, some 6 times. All of which (16:7,22,39; 23:29), apart from 18;7,16 referred to above, pair עֵיר^•ם ‘êyrôm with עֶרְיָה ‘eryâh (Strong's #6181) in the phrase "naked and bare".

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Meet the Author

Charles Loder has an MA in Jewish Studies from Rutgers University. His work is in Biblical Hebrew and comparative semitic linguistics, along with a focus on digital humanities. His work can be found on his Academia page and Github.