{"id":1097,"date":"2026-07-20T15:28:26","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T19:28:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mernestbritt.com\/?p=1097"},"modified":"2026-07-20T15:28:28","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T19:28:28","slug":"on-nakedness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mernestbritt.com\/?p=1097","title":{"rendered":"On Nakedness"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I recently read a post (article? transcript?) by a friend of mine, one with whom I’d have gobs <\/strong>more in common than not. He is a brother, a fine leader, and certainly a better man than I am in perhaps every respect. And in fairness, his post was remarkably more balanced than most posts I read about this topic on social media. However, the post was nonetheless grounded in what I believe are a couple of anachronistic projections and historical misunderstandings that ultimately harm his position rather than bolstering it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh, so you’re a progressive liberal weakling<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Lest I be construed as a libertine, I want to carefully summarize my own mind on the issue of “modesty” and “standards” as far as these words are commonly applied in the context of how we cover up parts of our bodies with clothes. This part is intended to be brief, since it’s not the point of this post, so I’ll limit myself to the following two notes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First<\/strong>, let’s state the obvious: whenever this topic is discussed, it almost exclusively has to do with women’s apparel, not men’s apparel. And I’m not bemoaning this while wearing a pink-eared hat or holding a picket sign in protest; on the contrary, I don’t think that’s necessarily a misguided direction for the conversation. Because — and let’s be intellectually honest and spare each other any virtue-signaling — the sinful pox of the wandering eye is almost exclusively (I said almost<\/em> exclusively) a male problem, not a female problem. This is an unassailable biological reality.1<\/a><\/sup> 2<\/a><\/sup> 3<\/a><\/sup> Thus, more attention is naturally paid toward how our daughters cover up their bodies with clothes than our sons. I don’t know anyone who could reasonably object to this on any merit except simply not wanting it to be so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second<\/strong>, in the interest of brevity, let me be once again direct: I join my friend in being wary of the less-careful or even overtly sexually-oriented clothing that we see worn by some of today’s women in the name of Christian liberty. While it is certainly possible to overcorrect in this area (ankle-length skirts and baggy clothes?), and while I’m just as sick as you are (or at least you should be) of the perverse men who can’t seem to talk about anything else from behind their pulpits, I do think there ought to be enough wisdom to not err on the other extreme, either. Two things can be true at the same time: One, that women do not <\/em>bear the sin of any man who lusts after them (that’s victim-blaming, and it’s wrong), and two, that there is something radically counter-cultural baked right into Christianity that would help us all here: a shared societal responsibility4<\/a><\/sup>. That is to say, where everyone helps each other out. Women are not <\/em>ultimately responsible for a man’s purity, but they can absolutely be partners with their brothers in this endeavor. In the end, the primary question will always be, “how does my liberty affect someone else,” not “what can I freely do because there are no explicit rules about this in the Bible?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Okay, get on with it<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

With that out of the way, I will here address what I believe are two problems with my friend’s post, but I don’t want to link the post or even quote the entire thing. This is for two reasons: 1)<\/strong> I do not want to make this a post-and-response sort of back-and-forth; I’ll leave that to Zondervan’s Four Views<\/em> book series. 2)<\/strong> Also, I don’t think I even need <\/em>to quote much of the post, since the arguments are familiar. So instead, I’ll address the basic argument from the standpoint of “nakedness.” Apropos, I’ll simply call this position the “Argument from Nakedness.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Argument from Nakedness is as follows: the Bible defines a very specific physical boundary for what is considered “nakedness.” From there, the logic is threefold: First<\/strong>, it draws from Genesis 3 to argue that nakedness is broader than modern nudity, meaning you can have clothes on (like Adam and Eve\u2019s fig leaves or Peter’s presumed loincloth) and still be insufficiently covered in God’s eyes. Fair enough, that. But second<\/strong>, it then pulls from Old Testament passages like Exodus 28 and Isaiah 47 to claim that God explicitly links exposing the thigh<\/em> to exposing nakedness<\/em>. And then third<\/strong>, it stamps that concept onto modern apparel operating on the basis that the “thigh” means the exact thing to us as it did to them: the part of the leg above the kneecap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore, knee-length shorts are employed not as a wisdom principle, but as a way of covering up “nakedness.” I’m all for pushing back on ahem <\/em>“Daisy Dukes” at your church barbeques, youth groups, and teen camps, but I am impelled to disagree with the concept of “nakedness” being employed in the service of covering one’s physical thigh. Here’s why, in two movements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prong One: The Hebrew Linguistic Construct of the Thigh<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The Argument from Nakedness ultimately rests on the understanding that when the Scriptures (particularly the Hebrew Scriptures) employ the word “thigh,” it means any area of the leg above the knee. In my dear brother’s post, he stated as much: “I\u2019m convinced the Bible word for thigh is our same word we use today, the portion of the leg above the knee.” However, I think there is — and I mean this in the most denotative and inoffensive way possible — much textual and cultural ignorance behind this assertion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am persuaded that this isn’t malicious or intentional; rather, it’s a very common and unfortunate anachronistic projection: when we take a modern English word or anatomical concept and read it backward into an ancient text like the Hebrew Bible. The Hebrew word translated as “thigh” in these passages is \u05d9\u05b8\u05e8\u05b5\u05da\u05b0 (yarek)<\/em>, and in the Old Testament, yarek<\/em> does not <\/strong>exclusively refer to the “portion of the leg above the knee.” It is a very well-known and well-used cultural and poetic euphemism for the hip, the crotch, and very often, one’s genitalia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The attempt (well-meaning or otherwise) to impose our modern definition of “thigh” directly onto the Hebrew Scriptures is remarkably easy to defenestrate Scripturally and culturally. Take, for instance, Genesis 24:2. In this passage, Abraham asks his servant to “place his hand under his yarek<\/em>.” In a similar passage (these are known as “The Oath Passages” among students of this topic), Genesis 47:29, Jacob has the same request for Joseph. So what’s going on here?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You’re probably not gonna like this<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

In both passages, they are placing their hands on either the testicles or penis of the requester.5<\/a><\/sup> This is not conjecture: it is rooted in history, culture, hermeneutics, and linguistics. To hear James Freeman tell it: “The word thigh \u2014 Hebrew,\u00a0yarek<\/em> \u2014 is a euphemism; that is, a mild or indirect word that is substituted for one that is considered too harsh, blunt, or offensive.\u00a0Without question, the servant\u2019s hand was placed beneath Abraham\u2019s\u00a0procreative organs<\/em>\u00a0(these words are also euphemisms).”6<\/a><\/sup> Or, to borrow from John Pilch: “Other common words like thigh, hand, and finger also symbolize reproductive parts of the anatomy where the context makes this clear. When Abraham commands his servant: \u201cPut your hand under my thigh, and swear to me by the LORD that you will do my bidding,\u201d the servant must swear while his hand touches Abraham\u2019s organ (see Gen. 24:2, 9).\u00a0The deed is clear, but its significance is less clear.”7<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In other words, we have leeway to argue about why <\/em>they were doing this, but we don’t have any room to argue about what <\/em>they were doing. My favored understanding of this is connecting the word “testimony” or “testify” — which is what the servant and Joseph were doing in these passages — to its linguistic origins: the testicle. Not to mention that the Targum Psuedo-Jonathan simply renders this plainly without the euphemism: “Place, I pray, your hand on the cut of my circumcision…” This is clearly speaking of a solemn oath that involved the physical act of touching a man on his testicles or — if the aforementioned Targum is correct — his penis. And as far as scholarly support goes for this, well, pick your favorite: the JPS Torah Commentary, the Word Biblical Commentary, the New International Commentary, the Continental Commentary, and so many more — they all agree unanimously that this word yarek<\/em> is here used as a euphemistic expression for the genitals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This isn’t a one-off, either: When the Old Testament authors wished to speak about “private parts” or sexual intimacy, they regularly <\/em>used other body parts. The Old Testament uses feet (regel<\/em>) in Isaiah 7:20 and Ruth 3:4, hands (yad<\/em>) in Isaiah 57:8, and flesh (basar<\/em>) in Leviticus 15 and Ezekiel 23:20 to describe these things. And it’s not just the Bible — other texts did this, too, like the Community Rule <\/em>text found with the Dead Sea Scrolls: they used the word “hand” to describe a penis when discussing the penalty to be applied to someone who reveals his penis from under his clothes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ok, please just stop saying…those words<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The point I’m trying to make isn’t that the word “thigh” never <\/em>meant the space between the hip and the knee. To be sure, it sometimes did. Rather, my point is to expose the overt inaccuracy of saying that our definition of the word “thigh” today always lines up with how the Biblical authors used this word. It most certainly doesn’t, and only a cursory perusal of Ancient Near East history readily demonstrates this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But this fallacy isn’t the only issue with the Argument from Nakedness. The second major support of this position is a flawed or incomplete understanding of the biblical concept of “nakedness” itself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prong Two: The Naked Truth<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Just like it’s easy to misunderstand the usage of the word “thigh” in Scripture, it’s also easy to misunderstand “nakedness” in Scripture, too, flattening the Biblical concept of nakedness into immediate association with some kind of moral failure. Now, here I want to be very fair <\/strong>to my brother who clearly <\/strong>stated that he wasn’t trying to assert that every <\/em>time someone was naked in Scripture, it was sin (like Peter being “naked” while fishing — this was not sin). I genuinely appreciate this, and it’s streets ahead8<\/a><\/sup> of many, many awful presentations I’ve heard about how “Peter got away from Jesus and backslid and got nekked<\/em>, heymen?! It’s how it always goes!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, I remain at odds with the idea that nakedness is ever <\/em>used in Scripture as a metric of what we often call “modesty” today: that is, the strategic covering of body parts to prevent someone else from lusting. That’s important<\/strong>, because it’s very particular.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Scripture, the idea of nakedness primarily has to do with ritual propriety, honor vs. shame, boundary violations, and social standing, not <\/em>covering up genitalia or other body parts so as to not be a part of stumbling other people. I know that might seem shocking, but it’s absolutely the case. And while I’m raining on everyone’s parade, let me also lob another grenade in the mix: our Scriptural heroes were nowhere near as prudish as we are in terms of covering their bodies for sexuality’s sake. Don’t get me wrong — it’s not that they didn’t care or were being loose or immoral. Rather, it’s that the human body wasn’t anywhere near as objectified or sexualized then as it is now. So when we read nakedness being negatively portrayed in Scripture, it’s not because they were worried about a woman stumbling a man (or the other way around) — they were concerned about subverting God’s order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sounds like wishy-washy mumbo-jumbo<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

If I couldn’t back up that assertion, I wouldn’t make it. But here’s a few refutations of some relevant poor applications of Scripture. First<\/strong>, let’s take a look at Adam and Eve in the Garden. When they sinned and were aware of their nakedness, the first two humans made themselves chagorot<\/em>, or, loincloths. This would have been a bit like underwear covering their reproductive organs. This was insufficient, so God made them chotonet<\/em>: fuller clothes for their bodies, like a short robe or long shirt. But please, please <\/em>understand: this rich, deeply-meditative Jewish literature is not trying to teach us about which parts of the body to cover and how much. It’s about the materials used<\/em>, not the hemline length.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adam and Eve didn\u2019t feel naked because their fig leaves were too short or didn’t reach their knees. They felt naked because their relation with God was severed. The fig leaves could cover their bodies, but they could not cover their sin. So when God made them “coats of skins,” he wasn’t doing this because he was worried about their thighs or any other part of their bodies. He was performing the very first act of atonement <\/em>in the Scriptures. Blood was shed to cover their sins, and their shame was covered by the provision of God. This text has nothing — nothing, I say — to do with covering certain parts of the body, and to suggest otherwise is, in my mind, to miss the point of the passage completely. I don’t even think it’s fair to consider the idea of “modesty” as even a tertiary application of this text. It’s just so far removed from the intent of the Biblical author.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second<\/strong>, let’s learn more about another common argument: the priests’ linen underwear. I have heard the argument from Exodus 28:42 many, many times: the priests covered their thighs to cover their ervah<\/em> (another Hebrew word for nakedness), and we are all priests before God, therefore we should cover our thighs to cover our nakedness. This is God’s standard. And so forth. However, this is an insufficient misread of the text. Yes, the priests wore linen underwear to cover their thighs and prevent their nakedness from showing. Absolutely. But remember the point I’m arguing: was this to prevent people from sexualizing or lusting after the priests? No — this was entirely liturgical and ceremonial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the Ancient Near East, religious rites from other religions and fertility cults frequently featured ritual nudity and sexual acts as a way to worship their chosen deity. God\u2019s command to the Levitical priests was a message of distinction and identity, then — it was a boundary of ritual sanctity, not a command to ensure the congregation didn’t lust after the priest’s thighs. Now, in fairness, I can see how this might be applied today in terms of Christians saying “we are not a hedonistic people,” but that’s about as far as one can apply this text without eisegetically butchering it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Third<\/strong>, let’s take another look at Peter the Apostle. Now, the brother who wrote this post and I are already in agreement that Peter being gymnos <\/em>(that’s a Greek word for nakedness) was not a sin. But why<\/em> wasn’t it a sin? Because in the ancient world, gymnos<\/em> meant “lightly clad” — this would have been the equivalent of a guy working in an A-shirt or athletic shorts today. A fisherman’s cloak would have gotten soaked in the water, to the point of being a drowning hazard, so they stripped down to their basic linen tunics to work. Peter didn’t scramble to put his outer coat back on because he didn’t want to somehow stumble Jesus; he did it because of propriety and respect. Now, to my friend’s credit once again, he stated this very thing: “Apparently there was a difference between what was appropriate while working and what was appropriate when presenting himself publicly before the Lord.” Couldn’t agree more. But if this is indeed the case, then:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Remember my argument (I told you it was important!): when we read of nakedness in the Scriptures, it’s not about sex or lust or anything like that. It’s about ritual propriety, honor vs. shame, boundary violations, and social standing, like I said earlier. So why would anyone use these Biblical examples of “nakedness” when discussing the importance of covering up one’s body so as not to stumble other people? It’s ultimately lifting the concept of nakedness far and away from its Biblical context and plopping it down in ours to make our own faulty arguments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In closing…<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

There’s no question it’s very important to both this brother and myself that we all dress wisely, and not expose our bodies needlessly or carelessly. It’s my hope that we’ll all be able to one day have discussions like this between both genders about how we can help each other rather than one gender defensively slinging accusations of perversion and control toward the other. But regardless of how it’s received, we do <\/strong>need to draw lines somewhere, and to each their own, surely. But we don’t need to take Scripture out of context to do it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead, why don’t we just tell it like it is? Instead of leaning on incorrect applications of nakedness from Scripture, just say, “hey, we’ve decided that for youth group or teen camp (or whatever), we’re going to stick with knee-length shorts.” Not because of some arbitrary measuring line we’re manufacturing from misapplied verses, but rather because we decided to have some really honest and forthright conversations: “Hey, in our cultural moment, I don’t think it’s appropriate for our teens to wear shorts that expose part of their buttocks \/ shirts that show off their muscles \/ shirts that reveal too much cleavage.” Just be honest about it. And here’s one of the most important reasons why: because if you have to force Scripture to justify your standards (which you’re otherwise perfectly entitled to form however you want for those in your employ or followership), it’s going to eventually backfire, one way or another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is what I mean: if you wrest Scripture to make a point about covering up certain parts of the body, you’re forming a culture that will do the exact same thing about whatever other topics they can find. Instead, teach your people to be honest with the Scriptures and what they’re saying and what they’re not saying. And have the courage to simply say, “we’re not going to allow X, because X is not where we want to be as a group.” No forcing or misapplying Scripture needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A good and Godly leader leads Scripturally without having to remove Scripture from its context in the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As always, my articles are entirely and wholly written by me, never any LLM or so-called “AI.” My use of LLMs is reserved for research purposes only, with no exceptions<\/em>. Please join me in committing to never putting your name on any creative work that someone — or something — else created for you, in whole or in part.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n

  1. Stephan Hamann, Herman R. A., Nolan C. L., and Wallen K., “Men and women differ in amygdala response to visual sexual stimuli,” Nature Neuroscience<\/em> 7, no. 4 (2004): 411\u2013416. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  2. Meredith L. Chivers, “Sex Differences in Response to Visual Sexual Stimuli: A Review,” Archives of Sexual Behavior<\/em> \/ PMC NIH Clinical Review<\/em> (2009). \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  3. Meredith L. Chivers, M. C. Seto, M. L. Lalumi\u00e8re, E. Laan, and T. Grimbos, “Agreement of self-reported and genital measures of sexual arousal in men and women: a meta-analysis,” Archives of Sexual Behavior<\/em> 39, no. 1 (2010): 5\u201356. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  4. I recorded a three-part podcast miniseries<\/a> on this topic that delves into this idea of a “shared societal responsibility.” This brief arc is entitled “Hearts or Hemlines,” and in it, I discuss this entire topic much more at length and with more nuance. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  5. I know, I know — this sounds weird and really improper. But please understand we are millennia <\/em>removed from this culture, which was so very, very different from ours. What might seem outlandish and even inappropriate to us was simply not to them, and the inverse would surely be true were they to peer into our age, as well. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  6. Manners & Customs of the Bible<\/em>\u00a0(North Brunswick, NJ: Bridge-Logos Publishers, 1998), page 34 \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  7. A Cultural Handbook to the Bible<\/em>\u00a0(Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2012), page 280 \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  8. If I have to explain it, you’re streets behind. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n

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