John Calvin Commentary Genesis 2:25

John Calvin Commentary

Genesis 2:25

1509–1564
Protestant
John Calvin
John Calvin

John Calvin Commentary

Genesis 2:25

1509–1564
Protestant
SCRIPTURE

"And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed." — Genesis 2:25 (ASV)

They were both naked. That the nakedness of humans should be considered indecent and unattractive, while that of animals has nothing disgraceful, hardly seems to agree with the dignity of human nature. We cannot see a naked person without a sense of shame; yet at the sight of an ass, a dog, or an ox, no such feeling will be produced. Moreover, everyone is ashamed of their own nakedness, even when other witnesses may not be present. Where then is that dignity in which we excel?

Moses will show the cause of this sense of shame, to which we are now alluding, in the next chapter. He now considers it sufficient to say that in our uncorrupted nature, there was nothing but what was honorable. Therefore, it follows that whatever is shameful in us must be imputed to our own fault, since our parents had nothing in themselves that was unbecoming until they were defiled by sin.