What Does Genesis 3:10 Mean in the King James?

And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.

Genesis 3:10 · KJV

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 word for “naked” echoes the serpent’s “crafty,” bringing exposure and cunning into the same sound-field before Adam names his fear.

THE MEANING

A voice reaches you; nakedness is named as the reason fear rises, and hiding follows. Vulnerability changes how nearness feels, and the body moves out of view.

THE ROOT

עֵירֹם

ʿêrōm

GROWS FROM

ערם

ʿ-r-m

Bare, naked, exposed

“naked” in this verse is ʿêrōm. The nakedness word belongs to a sound-pattern that also appears in the serpent’s description as crafty. Those forms have distinct contextual meanings, yet their closeness binds exposure and cunning in the garden’s story.

ALSO GROWS

ʿêrōm: Unclothed, exposed

עֵירֹם

Adam uses this form to name what makes him afraid.

ʿărummîm: Unclothed, exposed

עֲרוּמִּים

This related form describes both humans before shame enters the scene in Genesis 2:25.

ʿārûm: Crafty, shrewd

עָרוּם

The serpent is called this in Genesis 3:1; the sound-link places cunning beside exposure without making the meanings interchangeable.

וָאִירָא

wāʾîrāʾ

GROWS FROM

ירא

y-r-ʾ

To fear or stand in awe

“afraid” in this verse is wāʾîrāʾ. This word-family can carry fear or awe, while Adam’s stated reason fixes the sense here: nakedness makes the voice feel frightening. The root holds the response to presence together with the way that presence is experienced.

ALSO GROWS

yirʾāh: Fear, awe

יִרְאָה

The noun shows the same root naming the state that rises in Adam.

môrāʾ: Dread, fear

מוֹרָא

This related form carries the root’s fearful shade, matching Adam’s explanation.

וָאֵחָבֵא

wāʾēḥābēʾ

GROWS FROM

חבא

ḥ-b-ʾ

To hide or conceal

“hid” in this verse is wāʾēḥābēʾ. The same root carries the scene from hiding together to Adam’s first-person confession. Concealment is the movement that follows his fear.

ALSO GROWS

wayyitḥabbēʾ: Hid himself

וַיִּתְחַבֵּא

This related form describes the hiding in Genesis 3:8 after the pair hear the voice.

wāʾēḥābēʾ: I hid, I concealed myself

וָאֵחָבֵא

Adam names the same movement as his own response in this verse.

THE PATTERN

When exposure feels dangerous, fear moves the self toward concealment.

And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.

Genesis 3:8 · KJVHearing the voice is followed by hiding among the trees.

If I covered my transgressions as Adam, by hiding mine iniquity in my bosom:

Job 31:33 · KJVConcealment is named as the response associated with Adam.

For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.

John 3:20 · KJVThe approach of exposure becomes a reason to avoid the light.

THE THREAD

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

Genesis 2:25 · KJV

The nakedness here, ⁨עֵירֹם⁩ (ʿêrōm, naked), belongs to the same root ⁨ערם⁩ (ʿ-r-m, bare or exposed) as ⁨עֲרוּמִּים⁩ (ʿărummîm, naked) in Genesis 2:25. There, nakedness is shared without shame; here, it becomes Adam’s stated reason for fear and hiding.

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