What does עֶרְוָה (ʿerĕwāh) mean in the Bible?
עֶרְוָה (ʿerĕwāh): Nakedness moves from literal bodily exposure to metaphorical vulnerability, shame, and covenant breach in judgment contexts.
Hebrew · H6172
עֶרְוָה
Nudity , literally (especially the pudenda) or figuratively (disgrace, blemish)
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עֶרְוָה H6172
Pronunciation ʿerĕwāh
What does עֶרְוָה (ʿerĕwāh) mean in the Bible?
עֶרְוָה (ʿerĕwāh): Nakedness moves from literal bodily exposure to metaphorical vulnerability, shame, and covenant breach in judgment contexts.
Full entry for עֶרְוָה (H6172) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render H6172?
The BSB source-word alignment has 54 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include . . . (12), have sexual relations with (7), her nakedness (4), nakedness (4), the nakedness (4).
Where does עֶרְוָה (ʿerĕwāh) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 9:22. Its strongest book concentrations include Leviticus (32), Ezekiel (8), Genesis (5), Deuteronomy (2).
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders It . . . 12× Leviticus 18:6, Leviticus 18:7, Leviticus 18:9, Leviticus 18:10
have sexual relations with 7× Leviticus 18:8, Leviticus 18:11, Leviticus 18:12, Leviticus 18:13
her nakedness 4× Lamentations 1:8, Ezekiel 23:10, Ezekiel 23:18, Hosea 2:9
nakedness 4× Genesis 9:22, Genesis 9:23, Leviticus 20:11
the nakedness 4× Leviticus 20:17, Leviticus 20:20, Leviticus 20:21, Ezekiel 22:10
your nakedness 4× Exodus 20:26, Isaiah 47:3, Ezekiel 16:8, Ezekiel 16:36
- 3× Leviticus 18:7, Leviticus 18:9, Leviticus 20:18
[is] vulnerable 2× Genesis 42:9, Genesis 42:12
[you] 1× Ezekiel 16:37
bare 1× Exodus 28:42
expose the nakedness 1× Leviticus 18:7
have sexual relations with both 1× Leviticus 18:17
indecency 1× Deuteronomy 24:1
naked 1× Ezekiel 16:37
shame 1× Isaiah 20:4
so that the shame 1× Ezekiel 23:29
unclean 1× Deuteronomy 23:14
who bore you 1× 1 Samuel 20:30
would dishonor 1× Leviticus 18:8
would shame 1× Leviticus 18:16
would shame your family 1× Leviticus 18:10
Show sample aligned rows
Genesis 9:22 עֶרְוַ֣ת to nakedness Noun - feminine singular construct Genesis 9:23 עֶרְוַ֣ת to nakedness Noun - feminine singular construct Genesis 9:23 וְעֶרְוַ֥ת to nakedness Conjunctive waw | Noun - feminine singular construct Genesis 42:9 עֶרְוַ֥ת to [is] vulnerable Noun - feminine singular construct Genesis 42:12 עֶרְוַ֥ת to [is] vulnerable Noun - feminine singular construct Exodus 20:26 עֶרְוָתְךָ֖ to your nakedness Noun - feminine singular construct | second person masculine singular Exodus 28:42 עֶרְוָ֑ה to bare Noun - feminine singular Leviticus 18:6 עֶרְוָ֑ה to . . . Noun - feminine singular Leviticus 18:7 עֶרְוַ֥ת to expose the nakedness Noun - feminine singular construct Leviticus 18:7 וְעֶרְוַ֥ת to - Conjunctive waw | Noun - feminine singular construct
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Genesis 9:22
Aligned rows 54
Books represented 9
Genesis 5 Exodus 2 Leviticus 32 Deuteronomy 2 1 Samuel 1 Isaiah 2 Lamentations 1 Ezekiel 8 Hosea 1
Source forms
עֶרְוַ֥ת 17x ‘er·waṯ Genesis 42:9, Genesis 42:12, Leviticus 18:7, Leviticus 18:8
עֶרְוַ֣ת 5x ‘er·waṯ Genesis 9:22, Genesis 9:23, Deuteronomy 23:14, Deuteronomy 24:1
עֶרְוָתָֽהּ׃ס 3x ‘er·wā·ṯāh Leviticus 18:7, Leviticus 18:11, Leviticus 18:15
וְעֶרְוַ֥ת 2x wə·‘er·waṯ Genesis 9:23, Leviticus 18:7
עֶרְוָ֑ה 2x ‘er·wāh Exodus 28:42, Leviticus 18:6
עֶרְוַ֨ת 2x ‘er·waṯ Leviticus 18:9, Leviticus 18:11
עֶרְוָתָ֔הּ 2x ‘er·wā·ṯāh Leviticus 18:17, Lamentations 1:8
עֶרְוָתָֽהּ׃ 2x ‘er·wā·ṯāh Leviticus 18:19, Hosea 2:9
Parsing patterns
Noun - feminine singular construct 27x Genesis 9:22, Genesis 9:23, Genesis 42:9, Genesis 42:12
Noun - feminine singular construct | third person feminine singular 12x Leviticus 18:7, Leviticus 18:11, Leviticus 18:15, Leviticus 18:17
Noun - feminine singular construct | second person feminine singular 5x Isaiah 47:3, Ezekiel 16:8, Ezekiel 16:36, Ezekiel 16:37
Conjunctive waw | Noun - feminine singular construct 3x Genesis 9:23, Leviticus 18:7, Leviticus 20:19
Noun - feminine singular 2x Exodus 28:42, Leviticus 18:6
Noun - feminine singular construct | second person masculine singular 2x Exodus 20:26, Leviticus 18:10
Noun - feminine singular construct | third person feminine plural 2x Leviticus 18:9, Leviticus 18:10
Noun - feminine singular construct | third person masculine singular 1x Leviticus 20:17
Evidence Summary
Hebrew word. Nakedness moves from literal bodily exposure to metaphorical vulnerability, shame, and covenant breach in judgment contexts.
Source Gloss
nudity , literally (especially the pudenda) or figuratively (disgrace, blemish)
Extended definition Source: Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon + Brown-Driver-Briggs
Nakedness moves from literal bodily exposure to metaphorical vulnerability, shame, and covenant breach in judgment contexts.
nudity, literally (especially the pudenda) or figuratively (disgrace, blemish) BDB: nakedness Usage: nakedness, shame, unclean(-ness).
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Selected Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Biblical Witnesses
literal exposure of genitals, physical state of being uncovered
sexual relations and intimate exposure prohibited with family members
Showing 2 selected witnesses from 54 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
עֶרְוָה is built from this root:
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Sources
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain