And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
Parallel translations
- WEB The man and his wife were both naked, and they were not ashamed.
- KJV And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
- BSB And the man and his wife were both naked, and they were not ashamed.
- NASB And the man and his wife were both naked, but they were not ashamed.
- NLT Now the man and his wife were both naked, but they felt no shame.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The man and woman are naked yet unashamed. In their innocence before the fall there is full openness and no guilt.
Overview
The couple are naked and feel no shame, picturing the innocence and unbroken fellowship that marked human life before sin. Their lack of shame reflects perfect transparency before God and one another. This state of innocence stands in sharp contrast to the shame and hiding that immediately follow the fall in chapter 3, highlighting all that sin would soon destroy.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Gen 3:7Their eyes were opened, and they both knew that they were naked. They sewed fig leaves together, and made coverings for themselves.
- Gen 3:10–11The man said, “I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.”
- Rom 10:11For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in him will not be disappointed.”
- Jer 17:13Yahweh, the hope of Israel, all who forsake you shall be disappointed. Those who depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken Yahweh, the spring of living waters.
- Joel 2:26You will have plenty to eat, and be satisfied, and will praise the name of Yahweh, your God, who has dealt wondrously with you; and my people will never again be disappointed.
- Isa 54:4“Don’t be afraid; for you will not be ashamed. Don’t be confounded; for you will not be disappointed. For you will forget the shame of your youth; and the reproach of your widowhood you shall remember no more.
- Isa 47:3Your nakedness will be uncovered. Yes, your shame will be seen. I will take vengeance, and will spare no one.”
- Ezek 16:61Then you will remember your ways and be ashamed, when you receive your sisters, your elder sisters and your younger; and I will give them to you for daughters, but not by your covenant.
- Exod 32:25When Moses saw that the people had broken loose, (for Aaron had let them loose for a derision among their enemies),
- Ps 25:3Yes, no one who waits for you shall be shamed. They shall be shamed who deal treacherously without cause.
- Luke 9:26For whoever will be ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed, when he comes in his glory, and the glory of the Father, and of the holy angels.
- Mark 8:38For whoever will be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man also will be ashamed of him, when he comes in his Father’s glory, with the holy angels.”
- Isa 44:9Everyone who makes an engraved image is vain. The things that they delight in will not profit. Their own witnesses don’t see, nor know, that they may be disappointed.
- Ps 31:17Let me not be disappointed, Yahweh, for I have called on you. Let the wicked be disappointed. Let them be silent in Sheol.
- Jer 6:15Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? No, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; at the time that I visit them, they shall be cast down,” says Yahweh.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Lay
The single best free starting point for Genesis 1–11 — clear, visual, and faithful to the literary design.
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.
How Genesis 2:25 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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