Shame

A painful sensation, occasioned by the quick apprehension that reputation and character are in danger, or by the perception that they are lost. It may arise, says Cr. Cogan, from the immediate detection, or the fear of detection, in something ignominious. It may also arise from native diffidence in young and ingenuous minds, when surprised into situations where they attract the peculiar attention of their superiors. The glow of shame indicates, in the first instance, that the mind is not totally abandoned; in the last, it manifests a nice sense of honour and delicate feelings, united with inexperience and ignorance of the world.

Every one knows what shame means, it implies somewhat that is disgraceful, somewhat connected with sin. Hence, where sin is not, there is not properly speaking, shame. So that our first parents in the garden, before sin entered into the world, knew nothing of shame. For it is expressly said, "And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed." (Gen. 2: 25.) But after the fall, instantly a conscious sense of sin made them attempt to hide themselves from the presence of the Lord, amidst the trees of thegarden. (Gen. iii, 7, 8.) What a sweet thought is it, that as a sense of sin induceth shame, so a consciousness that sin is done away in Christ takes away that shame, and induceth holy boldness. Hence John saith, when speaking of Christ, And now, little children, abide in him, that when he shall appear we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming." (1 John 2: 28.)

aischyne (G152) Shame

aidos (G127) Shamefacedness

entrope (G1791) Reverence

At one time aidos included those meanings that later were divided between it and aischyne.Aidos had the same double meaning that is latent in the Latin pudor (shame) and in our own shame. Thus Homer, who did not know aischyne, sometimes used aidos where in later Greek aischyne would have been preferable. In a difficult passage in Cratylus where both words occur (1.84), some scholars believe that Thucydides used aischyne and aidos as synonyms. Similarly, in a passage in Sophocles where the two words are used, it is difficult, if not impossible, to distinguish their meanings. Generally, however, aischyne and aidos were not considered synonymous in Attic Greek. Ammonius formally distinguished them on philological grounds, while the Stoics distinguished them on ethical grounds. Almost every passage in which either word occurs indicates a real difference in meaning.

The distinction between aidos and aischyne has not always been clearly understood. Sometimes aidos has been understood as the "shame" or sense of honor that hinders one from doing an unworthy act and aischyne as the "disgrace"outward or inwardthat follows from the act itself (Luk_14:9). This distinction is partially but not completely accurate. It would be erroneous to assume that aischyne only retrospectively refers to the conscious result of unworthy actions. Rather, aischyne refers to the feeling that leads one to shun what is unworthy out of an anticipation of dishonor. Thus in the Definitionsascribed to Plato (G416), aischyne is defined as "fear of anticipated ill-repute." Aristotle included the future in his comprehensive definition: "Let there be shame [aischyne], a certain pain and discomfort concerning those evilswhether present, past, or futurethat appear to lead to ill-repute." In Sir_4:21, aischyne is used to mean "a fleeing from disgrace." Plato also uses the term. And according to Xenophon, "although they feared the road and were unwilling, nevertheless the majority followed on account of shame [aischynen] before one another and before Cyrus."

Aidos is the more noble word and implies an innate moral repugnance to the performance of dishonorable acts. Such repugnance, however, is not implied by aischyne, which refers only to the outward disgrace that makes one refrain from such acts. According to Aristotle, aischyne is only "imagination concerning ill-repute," or, as South said, it is "the grief a man conceives from his own imperfections considered with relation to the world taking notice of them; and in one word may be defined as grief upon the sense of disesteem. "Thus Jer_2:26 says: "As the thief is ashamed [aischyne) when he is found out." Locke's definition of shamerises no higher. The root of shame, as Aristotle argued, is neither a person's moral sense nor his awareness of a right that has been or that would be violated by the act but only his fear that others might discover his violation. If the apprehension of discovery is removed, the aischyne ceases. Aidos, however, is self-motivated and implies reverence for the good as good, not merely as that to which honor and reputation are attached. Thus aidos often is connected with eulabeia to refer to a reverence before God's majesty and holiness that leads one to be careful not to offend God. In summary, aidos would always restrain a good man from an unworthy act; aischyne would sometimes restrain a bad one.

Entrope occurs only twice in the New Testament (1Co_6:5; 1Co_15:34) but is used elsewhere with aischyne and aidos. Entrope also should be rendered "shame," though it connotes something not connoted by aidos or by aischyne.Entrope is related to entrepo, entrepomai (G1788) and hints at a change of conduct that results from wholesome shame. This is evident in phrases such as "learning through shame" (entropes,Job_20:3), and it is this shame that Paul wished to arouse in his Corinthian converts (cf. 2Th_3:14; Tit_2:8).Pott traced the successive meanings of the words in this way:

Entrepo, to turn about, to turn back, to turn around; the transferred meaning: to cause one to turn within oneself, to bring a person to himself, to give one occasion for introspection... entrope, the act of turning about; 2. introspection, being made ashamed, a sense of shame, respect, deference, regard, as aidos.

Those That Are Ashamed Of Jesus Christ

Mar_8:31-38; Luk_9:22-27.

Those That Cause Shame

Pro_14:35; Pro_17:2.

What Brings Shame

Pro_11:2.

What Is Shame

Pro_18:13.

Who Causes Shame

Pro_10:5; Pro_19:26; Pro_28:7; Pro_29:15.

Who Covers Shame

Pro_12:16.

Who Jesus Christ Will Be Ashamed Of

Mar_8:31-38; Luk_9:22-27.

Who Knows No Shame

Zep_3:5.

Who Shall Be Ashamed

Job_8:20-22; Psa_31:17; Pro_3:35; Pro_9:7; Pro_13:5; Pro_13:18; Isa_42:17; Isa_65:11-13; Jer_3:24-25; Jer_17:13.

Who Shall Not Be Ashamed

Psa_31:17; Psa_37:18-19; Psa_119:1-6; Isa_28:16; Isa_49:23; Joe_2:23-27; Rom_10:9-11.

Whose Glory Becomes Shame

Hos_4:6-7; Hab_2:6-16.

Whose Glory Is In Their Shame

Php_3:18-19.

SHAME

1. Objectively = dishonouring treatment, that which causes shame; usually ἀτιμία, ἀτιμάζειν (Mar 12:4, Luk 20:11). Shame is mentioned in several passages of the OT which are usually applied to Christ’s sufferings (Psa 44:15; Psa 69:7; Psa 69:19; Psa 89:45, Isa 50:6); but the word is, curiously enough, never so used in the Gospels. Heb 12:2 speaks of the shame (αἰσχύνη) of the cross, Heb 13:13 of Christ’s reproach (ὀνειδισμός), and in Heb 6:6 those who fall from grace are said to crucify Him afresh and put Him to an open shame (παραδειγματίζεν). In Joh 8:49 the unbelieving Jews dishonour (ἀτιμάζειν) Him, and in Act 5:41 the Apostles rejoice at suffering shame (ἀτιμασθῆναι) for His name.

The shame which Christ in fact bore is seen specially in such incidents of the Passion as the night arrest as of a thief or robber, the spitting, the scourging and the mockings, the public procession through the streets of Jerusalem, the taunts, the stripping naked of His body, and the hanging side by side with criminals. But above all, it is seen in the manner of His death, the cross being peculiarly the death of shame.* [Note: See the well-known passage in Cic. in Verr. v. 66: ‘Quid dicam in crucem tolli? Verbo satis digno tarn nefaria res appellari nullo modo potest.’] In the passages in the Gospels which speak of crucifixion and taking up the cross (Mat 20:19, Mar 8:34 etc.), though the prominent thought is that of sufferings, the idea of shame and ignominy is undoubtedly present as well. This shame must be willingly borne both by Christ and by His followers.

2. Subjectively = the feeling of shame; usually αἰσχύνη and cognate words.† [Note: For distinction between αἰσχύνη and αἰδώς, see Trench, NT Syn. §§ 19, 20. The latter Is the better word; ‘αἰδώς would always restrain a good man from an unworthy act, while αἰσχύνη would sometimes restrain a bad one.’] It is interesting to note that the typically Greek and almost untranslatable αἰδώς has practically dropped out of Biblical Greek. In the LXX Septuagint it occurs twice in Mac.; in NT only in 1Ti 2:9 μετὰ αἰδοῦς κ. σωφροσύνης (’with shamefastness and sobriety,’ Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885 ; ‘shamefacedness,’ Authorized Version * [Note: See Hastings’ DB, s.v.] ), and in Textus Receptus of Heb 12:28 (Authorized Version ‘reverence’), where edd. [Note: editions or editors.] read δέους. It may be that, like such words as ἀρετή and φιλία, it was avoided as having a technical and unsuitable sense. In Homer and Hesiod it ranks high, being coupled with νέμεσις, and personified; it is the sense of what is due to oneself and others. Aristotle,† [Note: See Eth. iv. 9; Rhet. ii. 6.] however, regards it not as a virtue, but an emotion (πάθος), which he does not consider very valuable to ethics. It is the fear of ἀδοξία, the loss of reputation, and, while proper to the νέος, it is out of place in the πρεσβύτερος or ἐπιεικής (the good man). They ought never to do, or wish to do, things that might evoke the feeling of shame.

Shame is not, then, a motive which we shall expect to find prominent in Christian ethics. Its essential idea being φόβος ἀδοξίας, it looks only to the varying standard of public opinion, to what people would say, or might be conceived of as saying if they knew. And its source is not the moral sense of right and wrong, but at best the feeling of propriety and decency. At its highest it is a neutral word. If it may sometimes deter from a wrong action, regarded as disgraceful, it is even more likely to deter from a right action, as unpopular.

It is in this sense that it is most prominent in the Gospels. It may keep a man from honest work (Luk 16:3). Christ warns those who are ashamed of Him and of His words, that He too will be ashamed of them (Mar 8:38, Luk 9:26; cf. Joh 12:43). It is this false shame that is emphatically repudiated by the Apostles (Rom 1:16, 2Ti 1:8; 2Ti 1:12, 1Pe 4:16).

Shame may also follow an action; and here too the idea is not the conviction of sin, but the confusion which comes from discovery, though this may be an element in a future awakening of conscience. It is the fate of one who unduly exalts himself (Luk 14:10). Christ’s enemies are put to shame (Luk 13:17), i.e. they are enraged at being exposed before the people. Though the word is not mentioned, it is presumably the feeling of the man who hid his talent or pound, when brought face to face with his master (Mat 25:24, Luk 19:20); and it is certainly implied in Joh 8:9, whether the words ‘convicted by their conscience’ are genuine or not. The Pharisees are ashamed of being found exploiting a sin for their own ends.

It is possible that in the passage last quoted (the episode of the woman taken in adultery) we have an instance of shame in another aspect, the sympathetic shame evoked by sin in others. Christ was face to face with the type of sin which particularly rouses that feeling, and with a callous attempt on the part of His enemies to use that sin for their own advantage. He blushed for those who did not blush for themselves.

‘He was seized with an intolerable sense of shame. He could not meet the eye of the crowd, or of the accusers, and perhaps at that moment least of all of the woman.… In his burning embarrassment and confusion he stooped down so as to hide his face, and began writing with his finger on the ground’ (Seeley, Ecce Homo, ch. ix.).

We may note that the word is far rarer in the NT, and particularly in the Gospels, than in the OT. The typically Hebraic use of בּוֹשׁ = to be disappointed of a hope, is not found in the Gospels; it occurs in Rom 5:5; Rom 9:33; Rom 10:11, 1Pe 2:6. In each case a quotation is implied or expressed, though, curiously enough, from a passage (Is 28:16) where בּו̇שׁ does not occur in the Hebrew. The shame or reproach of childlessness, which is so prominent in the OT, is referred to in Luk 1:25.

Literature.—Hasting’s Dictionary of the Bible , art. ‘Shame’; Trench, NT Synonyms; G. Salmon, Gnosticism and Agnosticism (1887), 164; R. W. Church, Village Serm., 3rd ser. (1897), 236.

C. W. Emmet.

SHAME.—1. In the first Biblical reference to this emotion (Gen 2:25; cf. Gen 3:7) ‘shame’ appears as ‘the correlative of sin and guilt’; it is ‘the overpowering feeling that inward harmony and satisfaction with oneself are disturbed’ (Delitzsch, Com., in loc.). From the OT point of view the crowning shame is idolatry: ‘As the thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the house of Israel ashamed; they say to a stock, Thou art my father’ (Jer 2:26; cf. Isa 41:11; Isa 42:17). The all-inclusive promise to those who trust in God is ‘none that wait on thee shall be ashamed’ (Psa 25:3 RV [Note: Revised Version.] ; cf. Psa 119:8; Psa 119:30, Isa 45:16 f., Isa 49:23; Isa 54:4 f., Jer 17:13, Joe 2:25 f., Rom 5:5; Rom 9:33; Rom 10:11). The absence of shame is always regarded as an aggravation of sinful conduct: Job (Job 19:3) reproaches his friends because they are ‘not ashamed’ of dealing hardly with him; the climax of Jeremiah’s complaint (Jer 6:15) against those who had ‘committed abomination’ is that ‘they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush’ (cf. Jer 8:12, Zep 3:5; Zep 3:11). The culmination of shamelessness is seen in those ‘whose glory is in their shame’ (Php 3:19); but in this passage, as elsewhere (Isa 50:3; cf. Pro 10:5; Pro 25:3), ‘shame’ is, by a natural transference of ideas, applied not to the inward feeling, but to its outward cause. The degradation of those ‘whose god is their belly’ is seen in their boasting of conduct which ought to have made them ashamed of their perversion of gospel liberty into sinful licence. The return of shame is a sign of true repentance: ‘then shalt thou remember thy ways and be ashamed’ (Eze 16:61, cf. Ezr 9:6).

2. The consciousness of shame varies with the conventional standards adopted in any society. For example, poverty (Pro 13:18), leprosy (Num 12:14), widowhood (Isa 54:4) may be viewed as involving ‘shame,’ though there is no blame. In the sense of violation of propriety St. Paul applies the word to men who wear their hair long and to women who wear it short (1Co 11:6; 1Co 11:14, cf. 1Co 6:5; 1Co 14:35); by an analogous adaptation of its meaning he describes God’s ideal ‘workman’ as one ‘that needeth not to be ashamed’ (2Ti 2:15).

3. In the NT sin is pre-eminently the shameful thing (Rom 6:21, Php 3:19, Eph 5:12, Jud 1:13, 1Jn 2:28; cf. 1Jn 3:6). But the distinguishing characteristic of the early ‘Christian use of the word is’ the trans valuation of values.’ ‘Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, … endured the cross, despising shame’ (Heb 12:2). When St. Paul says ‘I am not ashamed of the gospel’ (Rom 1:16), by a well-known figure of speech his negative statement emphatically asserts his positive glorying (Gal 6:14). To ‘suffer as a Christian’ and ‘not (to) be ashamed’ Is to ‘glorify God’ (1Pe 4:16; cf. 2Ti 1:8 f., 2Ti 1:12; 2Ti 1:16). The same heightening of the contrast is Implied when, on the one hand, the Son of Man declares that in the day of judgment He will he ashamed of all who are now ashamed of Him and of His words (Mar 8:38, Luk 9:26); and on the other hand, St. John’s assurance is that those who abide in Christ ‘may have boldness and not be ashamed before him at his coming’ (1Jn 2:28). Of them who desire a heavenly country ‘God is not ashamed … to be called their God’; for the city He has prepared, they are being prepared by the sanctifying grace of Him ‘who is not ashamed to call them brethren’ (Heb 11:16; Heb 2:11).

J. G. Tasker.

shām (בּושׁ, bōsh, “to be ashamed,” בּשת, bōsheth, “shame,” קכון, ḳālōn; αἰσχύνη, aischúnē, “ignominy,” ἀτιμία, atimı́a, “dishonor,” and other words): An oft-recurring word in Scripture almost uniformly bound up with a sense of sin and guilt. It is figuratively set forth as a wild beast (Jer 3:24), a Nessus-garment (Jer 3:25), a blight (Jer 20:18), a sin against one’s own soul (Hab 2:10), and twice as the condensed symbol of Hebrew abomination - Baal (Jer 11:13 margin; Hos 9:10 margin; see ISH-BOSHETH). It is bracketed with defeat (Isa 30:3), reproach (Psa 69:7; Isa 54:4; Mic 2:6), confusion (Isa 6:7), nakedness (Isa 47:3; Mic 1:11), everlasting contempt (Dan 12:2), folly (Pro 18:13), cruelty (Isa 50:6; Heb 12:2), poverty (Pro 13:18), nothingness (Pro 9:7 the King James Version), unseemliness (1Co 11:6; 1Co 14:35 the King James Version; Eph 5:12), and “them that go down to the pit” (Eze 32:25). In the first Biblical reference to this emotion, “shame” appears as “the correlative of sin and guilt” (Delitzsch, New Commentary on Genesis and Biblical Psychology). Shamelessness is characteristic of abandoned wickedness (Php 3:19; Jud 1:13, margin “Greek: ’shames’“). Manifestly, then, shame is a concomitant of the divine judgment upon sin; the very worst that a Hebrew could wish for an enemy was that he might be clothed with shame (Psa 109:29), that the judgment of God might rest upon him visibly.

Naturally, to the Hebrew, shame was the portion of those who were idolaters, who were faithless to Yahweh or who were unfriendly to themselves - the elect people of Yahweh. Shame is to come upon Moab because Moab held Israel in derision (Jer 48:39, Jer 48:27), and upon Edom “for violence against his brother Jacob” (Oba 1:10). But also, and impartially, shame is the portion of faithless Israelites who deny Yahweh and follow after strange gods (Eze 7:18; Mic 7:10; Hos 10:6, and often). But shame, too, comes upon those who exalt themselves against God, who trust in earthly power and the show of material strength (2Ch 32:21; Isa 30:3); and upon those who make a mock of righteousness (Job 8:22; Psa 35:26; Psa 132:18). With a fine sense of ethical distinctions the Biblical writers recognize that in confessing to a sense of shame there is hope for better things. Only in the most desperate cases is there no sense of shame (Hos 4:18; Zep 3:5; Php 3:19; Jud 1:13); in pardon God is said to remove shame (Isa 54:4 twice; Isa 61:7).

On conditions beyond the grave the Biblical revelation is exceedingly reticent, but here and there are hints that shame waits upon the wicked here and hereafter. Such an expression as that in Daniel (Dan 12:2) cannot be ignored, and though the writing itself may belong to a late period and a somewhat sophisticated theological development, the idea is but a reflection of the earlier and more elementary period, when the voice of crime and cruelty went up from earth to be heard in the audience chamber of God (Gen 4:11; Gen 6:13). In the New Testament there is similar reticence but also similar implications. It cannot be much amiss to say that in the mind of the Biblical writers sin was a shameful thing; that part of the punishment for sin was a consciousness of guilt in the sense of shame; and that from this consciousness of guilt there was no deliverance while the sin was unconfessed and unforgiven. “Many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt.” From one’s own past there is no deliverance, save through contrition of spirit and the grace and forgiveness of God. While the sense of shame persists, or, in other words, while the moral constitution of man’s nature remains as it is, there will never be wanting an avenger of sin.

((1) áἰó÷ýíç, vbs. áἰó÷ýíåóèáé, ἐðáéó÷ýíåóèáé, êáôáéó÷ýíåóèáé; (2) ἐíôñïðÞ, ἐíôñÝðåéí; (3) áἰäþò)

(1) The dread of outward shame, áἰó÷ýíç, as opposed to äüîá, ‘glory,’ not only restrains men from base actions, but sometimes deters them from the noblest and best deeds. In the Apostolic Age it was scarcely possible to be a Christian without facing ignominy. As Christ could not save the world without despising the shame of the Cross (Heb_12:2), so every Christian had to bear a cross of shame. He needed fortitude not to be ashamed of the gospel (Rom_1:16), of his hope (Rom_5:5), of his faith (Rom_9:33, Rom_10:11), of his trials (Php_1:20), of his suffering as a Christian (1Pe_4:16). Timothy was exhorted not to be ashamed of the testimony of the Lord, or of St. Paul his prisoner (2Ti_1:8), and Onesiphorus was praised for not being ashamed of St. Paul’s chain (2Ti_1:16). Those who were not ashamed of Christ had their reward in the assurance that He was not ashamed to call them His brethren (Heb_2:11), that God was not ashamed to be called their God (Heb_11:16), and that they would not be ashamed before Christ at His second coming (1Jn_2:28). True Christians renounced the hidden things of shame (ôὰ êñõðôὰ ôῆò áἰó÷ýíçò, 2Co_4:2), and inconsistent Christians were warned that the shame of their nakedness would be exposed (Rev_3:18), while hypocrites continued to foam out their own shameful deeds (áἱ áἰó÷ýíáé, Jud_1:13).

(2) ἐíôñÝðåéí ôéíá is lit. [Note: literally, literature.] ‘to turn a man upon himself,’ and so to shame him. In 1 Cor., which reflects the writer’s quickly changing feelings and attitudes, St. Paul tells his readers that he does not write to shame them (ïὐê ἐíôñÝðùí ὑìᾶò, 1Co_4:14), and again that he does write to move them to shame (ðñὸò ἐíôñïðÞí, 1Co_6:5, 1Co_15:34). The Pastoral Letters teach that the disobedient Christian is to be avoided, that he may be ashamed (2Th_3:14), and that the servant of Christ is to behave irreproachably, that his opponent may be ashamed (ἐíôñáðῇ, Tit_2:8).

(3) Áἰäþò (translation ‘shamefastness’ in 1Ti_2:9, ‘reverence’ in the inferior text of Heb_12:28) is a nobler word than áἰó÷ýíç, denoting a higher motive-a sensitive shrinking from what is either unworthy of oneself or dishonouring to God. It occurs twice in the Iliad-áἰäῶ èÝóèʼ ἐíὶ èõìῷ (xv. 561), and ἴó÷å ãὰñ áἰäþò (ib. 657): in the first case Pope renders it by ‘honest shame,’ and in the second by ‘manly shame.’ As to ‘shamefastness,’ which is read in the Revised Version instead of ‘shamefacedness’ in the Authorized Version , see R. C. Trench, Synonyms of the NT8, 1876, p. 67, and article ‘Shamefacedness’ in Hasting's Dictionary of the Bible (5 vols) .

James Strahan.