Our word for today is actually two words that share the same root word. Here is what I mean. עָרוּם cunning, cleaver, crafty, shrewd. It is used 11 times in the Hebrew Bible, our Old Testament. It is used in the book of Proverbs in a positive sense in knowing how to maneuver in one’s current circumstance. For instance, in Proverbs 22:3 The prudent עָרוּם sees danger and hides himself. But it can also mean someone who uses this same skill for evil as we see the devil, the serpent of old in Genesis chapter three as described as the most cunning, or clever. Our other word that shares the same root word is עָרוֹם naked, bear, unclothed. It is used 16 times in the Hebrew Bible, our Old Testament. There is a play on these two original Hebrew words in two ways. First, listen to how similar these words sound when spoken together עָרוֹם עָרוּם עָרוֹם naked עָרוּם clever. And secondly because of the transition in the last verse of chapter 2 (verse 25) and the first verse of chapter 3 of Genesis. Here is the play on the words Adam and Eve not naked but the serpent was the most naked. Now that sounds absurd until you think about nakedness, it also means exposed. So, Adam and Eve were not exposed but the serpent was the most exposed. Exposed to what? Evil in the sense of experience with and consequences of. If we look at the context. When God came for their walk in the garden they hid. Adam and Eve could now feel the consequences of evil they felt the distance between themselves and God. Something that they had never felt before. So, they physically did what they were already feeling inside of their hearts. Before they had no knowledge of good and evil because all they knew was very good. They were innocent because they lived in a perfect world and had not rebelled against God who created it and them. But now their eyes were opened they were also exposed to the experience of evil and the consequences of it. The devil is condemned and there is no salvation because he has made his choice long ago and that choice was not God. He is the most exposed. The good news is that is not our situation. We can if we have not yet accepted the rescue from the consequences of evil and the power of it in our lives.
I'm not saying that the translation of these words is wrong. I agree with them. I think the devil was and is clever and Adam and Eve didn't need clothes before, but we all do now. I just see a play on the words that add to the meaning of the overall battle between good and evil. The good news is that Jesus clothes us with his righteousness if we are in Christ.
