Devine Scripture

2 Corinthians 5:3

What does 2 Corinthians 5:3 mean?

A plain-English look at 2 Corinthians 5:3 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.

What 2 Corinthians 5:3 means

Here Paul qualifies his longing: he wants to be “clothed,” not “found naked.” Nakedness pictures a disembodied state—being stripped rather than further covered. Paul’s hope is not simply to be rid of the earthly tent, but to be properly dressed in the heavenly habitation. The Christian expectation, then, is positive fullness, not mere subtraction. He is aiming at a completed, God-wrought life that leaves no residue of shame, weakness, or incompleteness. The verse safeguards against thinking that salvation is escape from creation; rather, God perfects His people, granting them a fitting, glorious mode of existence that corresponds to their renewed relationship with Him.

Parallel translations

WEB

World English Bible · 2000

if so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked.

KJV

King James Version · 1611

If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked.

ASV

American Standard Version · 1901

if so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked.

BBE

Bible in Basic English · 1949

So that our spirits may not be unclothed.

YLT

Young's Literal Translation · 1862

if so be that, having clothed ourselves, we shall not be found naked,

DRA

Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752

Yet so that we be found clothed, not naked.

DBY

Darby Bible · 1890

if indeed being also clothed we shall not be found naked.

Context

After expressing desire for the heavenly habitation in verse 2, Paul anticipates misunderstanding. Verse 3 clarifies that his hope is not for a bare, bodiless condition but for the proper clothing God provides. This clarification leads directly into verse 4, where he restates the same point more fully: he does not wish to be “unclothed,” but “clothed upon,” so that mortal life is overcome by the life God gives. These verses refine the metaphor before Paul turns to assurance in verse 5.

v.2For verily in this we groan, longing to be clothed upon with our habitation which is from heaven:

v.3This passage

v.4For indeed we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened; not for that we would be unclothed, but that we would be clothed upon, that what is mortal may be swallowed up of life.

Cross references

Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.

  • Exodus 32:25

    And when Moses saw that the people were broken loose, (for Aaron had let them loose for a derision among their enemies,)

  • Revelation 3:18

    I counsel thee to buy of me gold refined by fire, that thou mayest become rich; and white garments, that thou mayest clothe thyself, and that the shame of thy nakedness be not made manifest; and eyesalve to anoint thine eyes, that thou mayest see.

  • Genesis 3:7

    And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig-leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

  • Revelation 16:15

    (Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.)

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