📖 Biblical Definition
"Naked came I, and naked shall I return" is Job’s worship-confession after the catastrophe of Job 1 — the day his oxen were carried off, his sheep burned, his camels stolen, his servants killed, and finally a whirlwind crushed the house where his ten children were feasting. He rent his mantle, shaved his head, fell on the ground, and worshipped: "Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD. In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly" (Job 1:21-22). Paul echoes the verse in 1 Timothy 6:7. Worship under loss is one of the highest forms of worship.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
Job 1:21: worship under loss — "the LORD gave, the LORD hath taken away."
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Job's response to the catastrophe of Job 1 — loss of all his children, servants, livestock, and possessions in a single day. He arose, rent his mantle, shaved his head, fell down on the ground, and worshiped, saying: "Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD" (Job 1:21). Three theological assertions: (1) we own nothing absolutely — what we have is given; (2) what is given may be taken; (3) the LORD's name is blessed in either direction. The text's editorial: "In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly." Echoed in Paul's "For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out" (1 Tim 6:7).
📖 Key Scripture
Job 1:21-22 — "And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD. In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly."
1 Timothy 6:7 — "For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out."
Ecclesiastes 5:15 — "As he came forth of his mother's womb, naked shall he return to go as he came."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Often quoted in funeral contexts only; Job's confession is more demanding — worship in active fresh loss, not retrospective acceptance.
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The verse is funeral-familiar but Job's actual setting is more demanding. The losses had just happened that morning; the bodies of his children were still in the rubble of the collapsed house; the dust of the catastrophes had not settled. From there, Job worshiped. From there, Job blessed the name. That is harder than retrospective acceptance.
Recover the rawness: Job 1:21 is worship in fresh loss. The God who gave is the God who took; both directions, the same God; both directions, blessed be His name.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Hebrew YHWH natan ve-YHWH laqach.
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['Hebrew', 'H5414', 'natan', 'to give']
['Hebrew', 'H3947', 'laqach', 'to take']
['Hebrew', 'H1288', 'barak', 'to bless']
Usage
"The LORD gave, the LORD hath taken away."
"Worship under fresh loss."
"Blessed be the name — in either direction."