The Greek noun gymnotaes means nakedness or the state of lacking adequate clothing. It appears three times in the New Testament (Romans 8:35; 2 Corinthians 11:27; Revelation 3:18) in contexts of hardship, apostolic suffering, and spiritual poverty. The word represents one of the severest forms of material deprivation.
In Romans 8:35, Paul lists gymnotaes among the threats that cannot separate believers from the love of Christ — 'Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?' The answer is a triumphant 'No!' The theology of gymnotaes in this context is that physical deprivation, even the most humiliating kind, cannot breach the bond of God's love. Paul lived what he wrote — he experienced gymnotaes himself (2 Corinthians 11:27) and testified that Christ's love held through it all.