Nakedness is shameful, but what constitutes being naked? Try this food for thought: Adam knew he had sinned and tried to cover himself with the loin covering of fig leaves, yet he still said he was naked – an assessment which God did not dispute (Gen. 3:7-11). There is obviously more to being naked than being without any clothing. Thayer says it is “scantily clad” and Arndt-Gingrich include “poorly dressed.” Take another look at what God made for man to wear in Gen. 3. Adam made a “loin covering” which God replaced with a “tunic.” Wilson and Gesenius define the word as generally covering from the shoulder to the knee. The priests where told to cover their thighs or they would be naked (Ex. 28:42) and the figure of shame in Isaiah 47:1-3 includes uncovering the thigh. Peter recognized that though he could fish in the relative privacy of his boat on the sea without outer garments, he reclothed himself before going ashore to meet the Lord. (Proving that you can swim just fine with some clothes on.) I have a very hard time dismissing these precedents when attempting to make a biblical definition of sufficient clothing.
