Translation
And the eyes of both of them were opened
Go to footnote numberand they knew that they were bare,
Go to footnote numberand they sewed together
Go to footnote numberfig leaves
Go to footnote numberand made for themselves
Go to footnote numberloin-coverings (See comment below.)
Go to footnote numberParaphrase
Then they comprehended things they had never understood before, and suddenly, unlike before,
their naked condition brought them shame, so they wove together some fig leaves and made girdles that would cover their reproductive organs. (See comment below.)
Footnotes
1: “were opened”
They expected the additional insight would be a good thing, making them like God, instead it turned out to be a bad thing, bringing only guilt. They now understood clearly the difference between good and evil because, when they did wrong, they felt guilt. The insight they gained was through experiencing guilt, not a theoretical mind game.
2
Why did their nakedness suddenly become such a big issue?
See my comment at the end of this verse.
3: "Sewed together"
The word used here does indeed mean “to sew,” and, unlike most Hebrew words, this one does not have a large number of alternate possibilities. However, as is always true of translation work, it is context that governs the interpretation of a passage. Here it appears that the normal understanding of sewing, which involves a needle and thread, is not a possible interpretation. Instead the meaning is more likely that they took small, supple branches from the fig tree, branches with leaves on them. These they pulled around themselves like a belt that has leaves hanging down from it, and then they wound the ends together so it stayed on their waist. They may have done this with more than one branch, weaving the new one into the first one, in order to achieve greater coverage. Can you imagine how silly this looked? While it did cover some essential parts, it was a lame attempt. It was the best they could do with what they had, but it was not a permanent solution.
4
“Fig leaves” are relatively large, although they are not the largest. It was likely the combination of the type of branch and the type of leaf that caused them to choose the Fig.
5
Why did they try to cover up? See my comment after verse 22. I will make you wait because a key component for understanding the answer has not yet been given, but will be given after verse 22.
6
This word means “belt, girdle, loincloth.” It obviously refers to something that only covers the reproductive organs, especially those in the middle and front of the body. The breasts are not reproductive in nature, rather they are necessary for nourishing a child after it has been born. Elsewhere in scripture we understand that covering the breasts is considered necessary for female modesty, but that does not enter into the picture at this moment. Their “girdle” may have covered only the front section, leaving the “caboose” exposed since it is similar for both man and woman and not technically involved in producing babies.
Why Did Their Nakedness Suddenly Become Such a Big Issue?
By speaking the universe into existence God took part of what was inside of Him and brought it out for all to see, thus creation is a small replica, a picture of what God is like. Man is a special replica of what God is like, and he was intended to be the leader in this universal demonstration of the character and nature of God. He wanted Adam to multiply and fill the earth with little replicas of Adam who was a replica of God. After the fall of man into sin, the reality of multiplying and filling the earth with little replicas of Adam became a dreaded thought, not a happy one. This is the biggest reason I can deduce for which the shame of their sinful act is so closely tied to their nakedness. It has to do with reproduction. Now their reproductive organs would be involved in making little replicas of a fallen, broken, sin-filled man or woman. Their offspring would be a continuation of their shame. Therefore, the reproductive organs were the triggers of their shame, and shame drove them to cover up.
We could say that nakedness seems to indicate anything that makes people think of the reproductive organs.
Later the Law would make showing anything above the knee improper. That is because it made people think of the reproductive organs by getting close to them – several inches away.
In a strict sense, the breasts were left out of the definition of Nakedness. It appears that Eve did not cover her breasts after her sin, but only her midsection where the reproductive organs are. But the breasts were sometimes spoken of as close to the same level as the reproductive organs because, even though they were used for nourishment of a child after birth, not true reproduction, they could make someone think of the process that brings children into the world.
Didn’t men in ancient times go to battle naked to show their masculinity? Others may have, but I am confident that Torah-following Israelites did not.
THE NAKEDNESS OF ADAM, EVE AND JESUS IN THE GARDEN
Gen 2:25 makes a special point of telling us that Adam and Eve were naked and yet were not ashamed. There was nothing abnormal about it. It felt right. But now it feels wrong.
This should show us how fundamental the changes were that the fall into sin brought about. It is because of sin that we feel shame about nudity. And there is a deeper level: our shame about certain things is only a demonstration that we feel constant shame on the inside. Nakedness is tied to shame, and shame is tied to the curse, and the curse comes from sin.
If nakedness is tied to shame and shame to the curse, why are we so attracted to a naked body (i.e. porn)? Why does porn have such power over so many people? Why do we so readily participate in shameful acts?
Before they fell into sin, sex did not dominate the Adam’s thinking the way it dominates men’s thinking now. It was not problematic for them to walk around naked because sex had its proper place in life along with everything else. Since we live after the fall, seeing people walk around naked would create many problems, as does seeing people walk around partially naked, i.e. showing lots of skin and shape and leaving very little to the imagination.
Gen 3:7 and their eyes were opened and they both knew that they were naked.
They had known nakedness before in a mental sense, but it had brought no shame; it seemed normal and proper. Now it seemed wrong; they were no longer comfortable being naked. Now they knew something was wrong, and being naked highlighted that sense of wrong.
When Jesus went looking and calling for Adam and Eve after they had sinned, I believe He did not have any clothes on. They had sinned, he had not. They felt uncomfortable and He did not. He was in a state of purity so his coming to them as he had before, with no clothes, and being totally OK with that, just highlighted their shame, for they were trying to hide. It was a slap in the face that he could comfortably walk around naked yet they could no longer do so. If he had come to them with clothes on, he would have been sharing in their shame, and thus their guilt.
The reason that Jesus wore clothes when he came to earth for 30 plus years is that this was no longer the garden of Eden. We see each other through eyes and minds that are different from Adam and Eve’s. The fact that Jesus wore clothes in the NT does not mean that he was guilty of sin. However, he did come to take our sins upon himself; but he did not do so by simply wearing clothes, he did so by being condemned to death on a cross.
Adam and Eve sewed together fig leaves and made for themselves loin clothes, also thought of as belts, or aprons. Their first reaction was to hide behind a tree or bush, but then they realized that the only way to move about was to create a covering that moved with them.
Was this to hide from each other, or from God, or both?
Probably both.
The shame they felt made it hard to face anyone. So their mate, the one they had been with 24/7 for an undefined number of days, always in the buff, suddenly made them feel uncomfortable.
Notice that the loincloth covers the part of the man and the woman that are most different. All of us have buttocks, all of us have nipples. But the front, middle section is where we are most different. That is what the loincloth covered. Sin could not strip them of their clothes for they had none, but it did strip them of their confidence, marred their sense of self and interfered in their relationship with others, especially God.