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G809 · Greek · New Testament
ἀσχημοσύνη
Aschemoune
Noun, feminine
Indecency / Shameful Behavior / Nakedness

Definition

Aschemoune (ἀσχημοσύνη) means "indecency," "shameful behavior," "nakedness," or "improper exposure." From alpha-privative and schema (form, shape, propriety). It appears in Romans 1:27 (shameless sexual acts) and Revelation 16:15 (the shame of spiritual nakedness). The Hebrew equivalent (ervah, H6172) is used extensively in Leviticus to describe sexual boundary violations.

Usage & Theological Significance

In Romans 1:26–27, Paul uses aschemoune to describe the sexual consequences of idolatry: when people exchange the truth of God for a lie, they exchange natural relations for unnatural ones, "committing shameful acts with one another." The theological logic is crucial: sexual disorder is downstream of theological disorder. When we get God wrong, we get ourselves wrong. The body was not designed for aschemoune but for the Lord (1 Corinthians 6:13). In Revelation 16:15, "blessed is he who stays awake and keeps his garments, lest he walk about naked and they see his shame" — using the same language of exposure/nakedness spiritually. The gospel clothes the shameful (Genesis 3:21) and restores the dignity that sin stripped away.

Key Bible Verses

Romans 1:27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.
Revelation 16:15 "Look, I come like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake and remains clothed, so as not to go naked and be shamefully exposed."
Genesis 3:21 The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.
1 Corinthians 6:13 The body, however, is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.
Isaiah 47:3 Your nakedness will be exposed and your shame uncovered. I will take vengeance; I will spare no one.

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