2 Corinthians 5:3
in 2 Corinthians 5because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
if so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked.
KJV
If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked.
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This verse in 2 Corinthians 5
Commentary
13 notes on this verseIn like manner, when he inserts the words "If so be that being unclothed we be not found naked." -referring, of course, to those who shall not be found in the day of the Lord alive and in the flesh-he did not say that they whom he had just described as unclothed or stripped, were naked in any other sense than meaning that they should be understood to be reinvested with the very same substance they had been divested of.
This site's exposition
the earthly tent we live in
on 2 Corinthians 5:1-4
The tent is skenos, the body as a temporary dwelling, set against a building from God, an eternal house in heaven. The groaning of verses 2 and 4 longs for resurrection embodiment, so that our mortality may be swallowed up by life.
This site's exposition
we will not be found naked
Chrysostom knows two readings of the verse, being unclothed and being clothed, and he prefers the second. He then reads naked as bare of glory, since all will be raised but each in his own order. Tertullian takes the clothing as the same flesh given back.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers4 voices
People are earnest in their prayers that they should not be excluded from the glory which is promised. This is what being found naked means. For when the soul is clothed in a body, it must also be clothed with the glory by which it …
A commentator
Didymus the BlindPAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH · Written before 398.
proposed
The unbeliever and the evil man, even if by chance he puts on a heavenly body, will still be found naked, because he has done nothing to acquire the clothing of the inner man.
"If so be that being unclothed we shall not be found naked." That is, even if we have put off the body, we shall not be presented there without a body, but even with the same one made incorruptible. But some read, and it deserves very much to be adopted, "If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked." For lest all should be confident because of the Resurrection, he says, "If so be that being clothed," that is, having obtained incorruption and an incorruptible body, "we shall not be found naked" of glory and safety. As he also said in the former Epistle; "We shall all be raised; but each in his own order." And, "There are celestial bodies, and bodies terrestial." (1 Corinthians chapter 15, verse 22 and 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verse 23) (ib. 40.) For the Resurrection indeed is common to all, but the glory is not common; but some shall rise in honor and others in dishonor, and some to a kingdom but others to punishment. This surely he signified here also, when he said; "If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked."
A commentator
Severian of GabalaPAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH · Written before 425.
proposed
Everyone, righteous and unrighteous alike, will put on immortality. But if the latter are consigned to hell, that is the same thing as being found naked.
The Medieval Church1 voice
So that not all would rely solely on the incorruption of the body, he says: only that we, having been clothed in incorruption and having received an incorruptible body, may not be found naked, that is, of glory and safety, as those who have the …
5 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church1 voice
But because he did not merely say, "put on" (indui), but "put on over" (superindui), he gives the reason for this, when he says, so that by putting it on we may not be found naked. As if to say: if the soul were to …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
), that, if it were the will of God, we might not sleep, but be changed; for it is not desirable in itself to be unclothed. Death considered merely as a separation of soul and body is not to be desired, but rather dreaded; but, considered as a passage to glory, the believer is willing rather to die than live, to be absent from the body, that he may be present with the Lord (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation
If so be that being clothed,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
If so be that being clothed - That is, fully prepared in this life for the glory of God; We shall not be found naked - Destitute in that future state of that Divine image which shall render us capable of enjoying an endless glory.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
If so be that being clothed - This passage has been interpreted in a great many different ways. The view of Locke is given above.
The words behind it
7 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| εἴ | ei | If | G1487 → | 508 times |
| γε | ge | even | G1065 → | |
| καὶ | kai | even | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| ἐκδυσάμενοι | ekdusamenoi | having put off | G1562 → | |
| οὐ | ou | not | G3756 → | 1664 times |
| γυμνοὶ | gumnoi | naked | G1131 → | |
| εὑρεθησόμεθα. | heurethesometha | we will be found. | G2147 → | 175 times |
εἴIf
eiG1487 →508 times
γεeven
geG1065 →
καὶeven
kaiG2532 →9120 times
ἐκδυσάμενοιhaving put off
ekdusamenoiG1562 →
οὐnot
ouG3756 →1664 times
γυμνοὶnaked
gumnoiG1131 →
εὑρεθησόμεθα.we will be found.
heurethesomethaG2147 →175 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Revelation 3:18I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, white garments so that you may be clothed and your shameful nakedness not exposed, and salve to…
it leads to
- Revelation 16:15
“Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who remains awake and clothed, so that he will not go naked and let his shame be exposed.”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Peter 1:7
so that the proven character of your faith—more precious than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
- Isaiah 55:1
“Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you without money, come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost!
- Revelation 16:15
Through
Revelation 16:15“Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who remains awake and clothed, so that he will not go naked and let his shame be exposed.”
it leads to
- 1 Thessalonians 5:2–3
For you are fully aware that the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.
- Matthew 24:42–43
Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day on which your Lord will come.
- Revelation 3:18
I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, white garments so that you may be clothed and your shameful nakedness not exposed, and salve to…
- 2 Peter 3:10
But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar, the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and its works will be laid…
- Revelation 3:3–4
Remember, then, what you have received and heard. Keep it and repent. If you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know the hour when I will…
- 1 Thessalonians 5:2–3
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies12
About 2 Corinthians
This page draws on 12 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ambrosiaster, COMMENTARY ON PAUL'S EPISTLES; Charles Hodge, An Exposition of the Second Epistle to the Corinthians; Didymus the Blind, PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH; John Chrysostom, Homily 10 on 2 Corinthians; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Severian of Gabala, PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH; Tertullian, On the Resurrection of the Flesh; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on 2 Corinthians and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on 2 Corinthians.