Reference: Shame
Hastings
1. In the first Biblical reference to this emotion (Ge 2:25; cf. Ge 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; 42:17). The all-inclusive promise to those who trust in God is 'none that wait on thee shall be ashamed' (Ps 25:3 RV; cf. Ps 119:8,30; Isa 45:16 f., Isa 49:23; 54:4 f., Jer 17:13; Joe 2:25 f., Ro 5:5; 9:33; 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 3:5,11). 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. Pr 10:5; 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 (Pr 13:18), leprosy (Nu 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 11:6,14, cf. 1Co 6:5; 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 (Ro 6:21; Php 3:19; Eph 5:12; Jude 1:13; 1Jo 2:28; cf. 1Jo 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,
See Verses Found in Dictionary
For whoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will also the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.
For whoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of man be ashamed, when be cometh in his glory, and that of his Father, and of the holy angels.
For I am not ashamed of the gospel; for to every believer, to the Jew first and also to the Greek, it is the power of God unto salvation.
and hope will not disappoint us; because the love of God hath been shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which hath been given to us.
What fruit then had ye at that time from those things of which ye are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.
as it is written, "Behold, I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling and rock of offence; and he that believeth in him shall not be put to shame."
For the Scripture saith, "Whoever believeth in him shall not be put to shame."
I speak to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you, not one that will be able to judge between his brethren?
For if a woman is not veiled, let her also be shorn; but if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be veiled.
Doth not even nature itself teach you, that if a man have long hair, it is a shame to him,
And if they desire to learn anything, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is a shame for a woman to speak in the church.
But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ; through whom the world is crucified to me, and I to the world.
For the things done in secret by them it is a shame even to speak of.
whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, whose mind is on earthly things.
whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, whose mind is on earthly things.
Be not then ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner; but endure hardship with me for the gospel through the power of God,
For which cause I suffer also these things. But I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which he hath committed to me unto that day.
The Lord give mercy to the house of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain; but on the contrary,
Study to present thyself approved unto God, a workman not ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one; for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren;
but now they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly. Wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for he prepared for them a city.
looking to the author and perfecter of the faith, Jesus, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and hath sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
but if as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this name.
And now, my children, abide in him; that when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.
Whoever abideth in him sinneth not; whoever sinneth hath not seen him, nor known him.
raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.