Naked and Afraid. A Study of Genesis III, Verse 7 and Its Interpretation

Abstract

<p>This is a study of Genesis III, verse 7 and its interpretation from the time of the Midrash Rabbah to the present. It consists of introduction, six chapters, conclusion and bibliography. The first chapter is a close textual analysis; the second shows the relationship between this verse and attitudes to nakedness and clothing in the rest of the Bible and outside it. The following four chapters deal with various understandings of the text under the headings of sexuality, reason, morality and anxiety. There is an attempt to show that, rather than being discrete or even contradictory interpretations, these are in fact closely related and complementary understandings of the text. It is argued that the theme of anxiety, at its fullest, comprehends the other themes, and the interpretation of the verse as a statement about man's anxious condition is presented as the most adequate understanding of it.</p>