Genesis 2:25 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

NIV: Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.

NASB: And the man and his wife were both naked, but they were not ashamed.

CSB: Both the man and his wife were naked, yet felt no shame.

NLT: Now the man and his wife were both naked, but they felt no shame.

KJV: And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

NKJV: And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

With the end of Genesis 2, we see the high point of human innocence in God's newly created world. Adam and Eve existed without any experience of evil, jealousy, deception, or insecurity. They were literally made for each other as husband and wife. All they needed had been fully provided by God. They had no need of clothing or any other restraints. They had no idea of what it meant to be ashamed of anything—the fact that they were naked was irrelevant in their sinless condition. Their lack of shame was not due to ignorance: it was due to innocence.

As chapter 3 will make clear, the shame we feel over being naked is tied to an awareness of one's own sinfulness and rebellion. We cover our nakedness out of a desire to hide our "true selves" from others, and because we fear what others will think about us. We cannot change the nature of this fallen world, so humans should rightfully be clothed. Adam and Eve had no such sin, and they lived in freedom from any impulse to hide any part of themselves from God or each other.

Tragically, all of that is about to change.

Genesis 2:15–25 returns to provide details about the sixth-day creation of human beings. After being crafted out of the substance of earth, man is placed in a garden by God. He is then given responsibility to care for the plants and trees there. God's first and only prohibition to the man is not to eat from the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, in the middle of the garden, on promise of death. Man is also charged with naming the animals, an act reflecting his God-given authority. God recognizes that it is not good for man to be alone and makes woman to be his helper, companion, and wife, establishing the pattern of God's design for human marriage.

Genesis 2 begins with a description of the seventh day of creation, in which God rested from His work. Then it returns to the sixth day and describes in more detail the creation of man, the garden God placed him into, and the work God gave him to do. God recognizes that it is not good for man to be alone and makes a helper for him out of his own rib. This woman becomes Adam's companion and wife, setting the original example of God's design for marriage. The two exist in pure innocence, naked yet unashamed before sin enters into the world.

Genesis 2 concludes the description of God's week of creation and then zooms in on the creation of man, his work, his perfect environment, and the creation of woman as his helper and wife. It is our last glimpse of the world before it is ravaged by human sin and death with the disobedience of Adam and Eve in chapter 3. Where chapter 1 gave a full overview of creation, this chapter focuses more on a few specific events. These are crucial to understanding the fall of man.

The book of Genesis establishes fundamental truths about God. Among these are His role as the Creator, His holiness, His hatred of sin, His love for mankind, and His willingness to provide for our redemption. We learn not only where mankind has come from, but why the world is in its present form. The book also presents the establishment of Israel, God's chosen people. Many of the principles given in other parts of Scripture depend on the basic ideas presented here in the book of Genesis. Within the framework of the Bible, Genesis explains the bare-bones history of the universe leading up to the captivity of Israel in Egypt, setting the stage for the book of Exodus.

Accessed 4/30/2024 12:31:16 PM