Adam & Eve: The Whole Story Doesn't Make Sense - until now

[Jason]

I definitely like this midrashic interpretation, ImAHebrew. I'm also certainly no expert, but years ago I did study Hebrew for a few years and thus I'm always looking for occasions to look at it again to maintain or regain something of what I learned and hopefully learn a little more. 

In Genesis 2,25, the narrator says that the human and his wife were עֲרוּמִּ֔ים (ꜥᵃrûmmim), which is usually translated here as 'naked', but that translation might be suspect. It is the plural of what the serpent is described as in 3,1, the very next verse: עָר֔וּם (ꜥārûm, clever, crafty, cunning, prudent)). Later on, when the human and his wife realize they are naked, a slightly different word is used in 3,7, which definitely means naked: עֵֽירֻמִּ֖ם (ꜥērummim, naked plural. Subsequently in 3,10.11 this same word is used in the singular when the human and God also both say that he was עֵירֹ֥ם (ꜥêrōm, naked singular).

The Hebrew words in 2,25 & 3,1 certainly look similar to the words used in 3,7.10.11, but I don't think they are really the same word. However the author does seem to be using a word play between the similarity of the slightly different words for 'crafty' and 'naked'. Perhaps a copyist changed the word in 2,25 while already thinking of the word in 3,1. Another copyist in the Dead Sea Scrolls may have made the opposite mistake in writing [ער[ום (ꜥārûm) in 3,11 (1Q1 f2:1).

Perhaps Jason will come along to teach us more!

I don't feel comfortable teaching about nudity.

The two words were used in the contrasting verses in a playful way. It was intentional, IMHO. In modern Hebrew, we have eliminated the "cunning" meaning and changed the word to עַרְמוּמִי ʿarmûmî in order to avoid the confusion. ערום is used only in reference to nudity/nakedness.