to lay bare: strip off whatever covers something, or drain out whatever fills it, leaving it exposed or empty
At its heart this verb means to take away whatever covers or fills a thing, so that what was hidden is left exposed and what was held is left empty. One picture stands behind every use: the leather cover stripped off a battle shield, a building torn down to its bare foundation, a body uncovered, a jar tipped until nothing is left in it.
Because a single image lies behind all of these, English has to reach for several different words. When the thing laid bare is a surface or a structure, translators say "uncover," "lay bare," or "strip"; when it is a person's body, "make naked"; when it is the contents of a container, "empty" or "pour out." A near neighbor, גָּלָה, covers much of the "uncover, reveal" range, and שָׁפַךְ is the ordinary word for pouring out a liquid; this verb sits between them, naming the emptying that leaves a vessel, or a life, bare.
The most striking uses push the "empty out" picture into figures of speech. A spirit is poured down from heaven like water onto dry ground, and a servant "pours out" his very life to death. In each the point is a total giving over, with nothing held back and the container left empty.
Nuances
Whether the traditional Hebrew reading of Psalm 37:35, which uses this verb for the wicked man spreading or displaying himself, is original, or a scribal corruption to be emended.
- contestedKeep the traditional Hebrew text, in which the wicked man makes a show of himself, flaunting his strength like a luxuriant native tree.; HALOT, s.v. ערה
- contestedEmend the word, following the ancient versions, to one meaning "towering" or "lifting himself up," so that this verb does not occur in the verse.; Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, apparatus at Psalm 37:35