Exodus 32:25 - Clarke's commentary and critical notes on the Bible

And when Moses saw that the people were naked; (for Aaron had made them naked unto their shame among their enemies:) Moses saw that the people were naked - They were stripped, says the Targum, of the holy crown that was upon their heads, on which the great and precious name Jehovah was engraved. But it is more likely that the word פרע parua implies that they were reduced to the most helpless and wretched state, being abandoned by God in the midst of their enemies. This is exactly similar to that expression, 2 Chronicles 28:19 : For the Lord brought Judah low, because of Ahaz king of Israel: for he made Judah Naked, הפריע hiphria, and transgressed sore against the Lord. Their nakedness, therefore, though in the first sense it may imply that several of them were despoiled of their ornaments, yet it may also express their defenceless and abandoned state, in consequence of their sin. That they could not literally have all been despoiled of their ornaments, appears evident from their offerings. See Exodus 36:21, etc.