Shame

Shame is explicitly rejected here as Paul's motivation — he clarifies that his argument for bodily holiness is not about guilt or surveillance but about the dignity that comes from being inhabited by God.

Shame describes what Saul's displayed body represented — a deliberate public humiliation by the Philistines — which the men of Jabesh-gilead directly reversed by giving him a dignified burial.

Shame is explicitly set aside here as Paul's motivation for sexual holiness — he reframes the call to purity not as guilt-driven rule-keeping but as living in alignment with God's design and the Spirit within.

Shame is named here as the destination of worldly grief — the inward spiral of self-condemnation that leaves a person stuck rather than changed, contrasted with godly grief that moves forward.

Shame is explicitly named here as what Paul is working against — he's framing his appeal so that giving comes from genuine willingness rather than social pressure or the fear of disgrace.

Shame is the weapon Hanun deploys against David's men — shaving their beards and exposing them publicly was a calculated act of cultural humiliation meant to dishonor not just the men but Israel itself.

Shame is notably absent from Paul's response — he doesn't condemn these men for their incomplete understanding but simply fills in what they were missing, modeling grace over judgment.

Shame is invoked to highlight what Paul conspicuously refuses to perform — he recounts his violent past with unflinching honesty but without self-pity, using truth rather than remorse as the foundation of his argument.

Shame is implicitly what Peter refuses to leave the crowd in — he acknowledges what they did but immediately offers an explanation and an exit, not condemnation.

Shame is the specific harm these lending laws are designed to prevent — God attends to the emotional experience of debt collection, prohibiting the creditor from storming a borrower's home and stripping them of dignity.

Shame is notable here precisely by its absence — God's response to the people's overwhelming fear is validation, not condemnation, establishing that honest acknowledgment of human limitation before God does not result in disgrace.

Shame is carefully distinguished from Moses' intent here — he explicitly reviews Israel's failures not to humiliate them but to ground their identity in honest self-knowledge before a monumental moment.