As we draw nearer to Rosh Ha-Shanah, I find myself still reflecting on the story of Creation. Each week it reveals something new — a layer in the Hebrew text that disappears in translation. Today’s insight is about a surprising connection between Adam, Eve, and the serpent.
In Genesis 2, we read that Adam and Eve “were naked and were not ashamed.” Then in the very next verse, as the story shifts to the Fall, we read: “the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field.” In English, these words appear unrelated. But in Hebrew, they come from the same root. The plural word for “naked” is arumim (עֲרוּמִּים), while the word “cunning” in Genesis 3:1 is arum (עָרוּם). Why would the same root describe both?
Once again, the richness of the Hebrew is the key. From one root come different binyanim and therefore differentshades of meaning: to be naked, to uncover, to make naked — and from there, to be impudent, cunning, or deceitful. This helps us see that the “nakedness” of Adam and Eve in Genesis 2 is not only physical but spiritual — being outside of God’s covering. As we saw last time, before sin, Adam and Eve were clothed in light, covered by God Himself. Once they sinned, they placed themselves outside of His covering and had to wear garments of skin. The serpent, however, had been outside of God’s covering from the very beginning.
Thus, for a Hebrew reader, the story of the Fall (Genesis 3) starts from Genesis 2:25. The word arumim (naked) in Genesis 2:25 immediately links to the serpent’s arum (cunning) nature in Genesis 3:1.The last sentence of chapter 2 introduces the subsequent story of human disobedience—it’s like a bridge, an important and profound bridge, connecting one chapter to another in Hebrew, but disappearing in translation. In Hebrew, we see the story that the translations never show.