Are You Decent? (Gen 3:21)

Into and Out of the Garden

²¹ leather tunics כָּתְנ֥וֹת ע֖וֹר

We are still (for the moment) in vv. 20–21, the interlude in which the man names the woman and YHWH dresses them. I’m calling it an interlude because in v. 19 YHWH asserted that the man (ha-adam) would return to the ground (ha-adama) he was made of, and in v. 22 he will take steps to make sure that happens.

As I explained earlier in the week, elaborating on my earlier observation that vv. 16–19 were not spoken directly to the human characters, we are watching what was going on in the garden. We might imagine that the interval is giving YHWH some time to think about exactly what “next steps” he needs to take. More about that next time.

For now, we’re going to talk a little bit more about those leather tunics. When we stopped last time, we saw that the “skin” aspect of ע֖וֹר (remember, that’s ʿôr with an ע, not “light,” which is ʾôr with an א) proved difficult for some of the traditional interpreters, who suggested:

• These were garments “for” their (own) skin, i.e., to cover more of their nakedness.

• They were indeed garments of “light” (despite that being the wrong ôr), meaning that something metaphysical was happening.

Rashi (as he often does) references a midrashic explanation and then adds a more straightforward one:

Some midrashim say that garments as smooth as one’s fingernails were attached to their own skin. But others say they did indeed come from the “skins” of animals—like rabbit fur, which is soft and warm—and He made them garments out of it.

Abraham ibn Ezra responds in his inimitable fashion:

It is not really our business to pry into whether these garments were made of rabbit fur or whatever.

And, as often happens, David Kimhi offers a comment similar to that of Ibn Ezra, but at greater length, more calmly, and with a touch of midrash added for those of his readers who he knows will enjoy that: