Timeline for Does "who are naked" mean "who are very poor"?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
12 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Dec 14, 2020 at 14:00 | comment | added | Darrel Hoffman | It's also worth noting that the climate in most of the locations depicted in the Bible is and has always been on the hot side, so you could get by with far less clothing that you'd need in colder climates. | |
| Dec 14, 2020 at 6:41 | comment | added | vsz | @choster : comparing historical fashion to the modern one, if someone from the 19th century was transported to our modern times and see people in T-shirts and shorts walking around, he would wonder why people walk around on the street in their underwear. Someone from the 18th century would then say "why are they walking around naked?" | |
| Dec 12, 2020 at 2:03 | comment | added | choster | @DarrelHoffman At this point it becomes a question for Biblical Hermeneutics, but the original Greek is γυμνός (gymnos), which can mean nude but can also mean stripped down or wearing minimal clothing. Similarly in Old English, naked could mean "wearing only an undergarment," a meaning that persisted through at least the 18th century. Like many Biblical words and phrases, however, the usage became fixed despite the everyday meaning of the words shifting. | |
| Dec 11, 2020 at 22:25 | comment | added | legatrix | I suppose that could be the case, but I still think it's more metaphorical. I'm sure rags couldn't have been absolutely impossible to come by. Also, I'm guessing complete nakedness was religiously or otherwise morally proscribed. | |
| Dec 11, 2020 at 19:06 | comment | added | Darrel Hoffman | Can we maybe imply that back in biblical times when this was written, it was more common for people to be literally so poor they can't afford even basic minimal clothing? Nowadays, even homeless people can easily get free clothing from various charities, but maybe that wasn't the case back in the day? | |
| Dec 11, 2020 at 16:56 | comment | added | legatrix | The fact that this question and answer have been so popular suggests that people will look at anything vaguely titillating! Fair enough. | |
| Dec 11, 2020 at 16:47 | comment | added | vsz | @HagenvonEitzen : indeed, context is everything. | |
| Dec 11, 2020 at 14:24 | comment | added | Hagen von Eitzen | @LorenPechtel whereas I have seen people being rich enough to afford vacations in an exclusive nudist camp. Or even people trying to get rich by being naked | |
| Dec 11, 2020 at 6:10 | comment | added | Loren Pechtel | @KateBunting I have seen someone so poor they were literally naked. | |
| Dec 10, 2020 at 13:21 | vote | accept | NewPlanet | ||
| Dec 10, 2020 at 12:56 | comment | added | Kate Bunting | Yes, presumably the Biblical reference is to people too poor to have more than minimal clothing, rather than being literally naked. | |
| Dec 10, 2020 at 12:09 | history | answered | legatrix | CC BY-SA 4.0 |