What Does Exodus 32:25 Mean in the King James?
And when Moses saw that the people were naked; (for Aaron had made them naked unto their shame among their enemies:)
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The people’s “nakedness” carries the sense of being let loose: Aaron’s release leaves them exposed before their enemies.
THE MEANING
You see a release turn into exposure: a people left unrestrained become an object of derision before their enemies. Moses, whose name carries the sense of being drawn out of water, sees that the damage is public and visible.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie is that loosened restraint affects only the one who releases it; here, a whole people are exposed to their enemies’ contempt.
THE ROOT
פָּרֻעַ
pārūaʿ
GROWS FROM
פ־ר־ע
p-r-ʿ
Let loose, uncover, or become unrestrained.
The root adds the sense of being let loose beneath the image of nakedness. Hebrew repeats it in “made them naked,” linking the people’s exposed condition directly to Aaron’s act of releasing them.
ALSO GROWS
pərāʿōh: Having let loose
פְּרָעֹה
This is the same root in the next clause, where Aaron is the one who lets the people loose.
pāraʿ: Let go or release
פָּרַע
In Exodus 5:4, Moses and Aaron are accused of letting the people go from their work; the root can name release as well as loss of restraint.
yippāraʿ: Cast off restraint
יִפָּרַע
Proverbs 29:18 uses this root where the KJV says the people “perish,” revealing the connection between being let loose and communal vulnerability.
THE PATTERN
The root פרע links release with uncovering: when restraint is stripped away, a people can be left exposed.
And Moses said unto Aaron, and unto Eleazar and unto Ithamar, his sons, Uncover not your heads, neither rend your clothes; lest ye die, and lest wrath come upon all the people: but let your brethren, the whole house of Israel, bewail the burning which the LORD hath kindled.Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.THE THREAD
Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.The word KJV renders “perish” is יִפָּרַע (yippāraʿ), from the same root פרע as “naked” in Exodus 32:25. Proverbs makes the communal cost plain: when a people are let loose without restraint, they become exposed.
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