Job 24:7
in Job 24Without clothing, they spend the night naked; they have no covering against the cold.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
They lie all night naked without clothing, And have no covering in the cold.
KJV
They cause the naked to lodge without clothing, that they have no covering in the cold.
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This verse in Job 24
Commentary
11 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
They cause the naked to lodge without clothing - They strip others of their clothing, and leave them destitute. That they have no covering in the cold - All travelers tell us, that though the day is intensely hot in the deserts of Arabia, yet the nights are often intensely cold. Hence, the sufferings of those who are plundered, and who have nothing to defend themselves from the cold air of the night.
This site's exposition
like wild donkeys in the desert
on Job 24:5-8
The poor now appear "like wild donkeys in the desert", who "go to work foraging for food" while "the wasteland is food for their children". They "glean the vineyards of the wicked". Watson notes that the poor do the labor that feeds their oppressors and own none of the harvest.
This site's exposition
they spend the night naked
Barnes notes that desert nights are often intensely cold though the days are hot, so the loss of a cloak meant real suffering. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown hear an echo of Job 22:6, where Eliphaz accused Job of stripping the naked. Here the stripping is done by others.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
They take away not only exterior goods by violence, but also those goods which have already been taken for warming the body, and so he then says, "They send men away naked taking away their garments," because they leave them nothing. He adds the afflictions …
They send men away naked, taking away their garments, who have no covering in the cold. As garments cover the body, so do good works the soul. Whence it is said to one, Blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. So Heretics, when in the minds of any they destroy good works, manifestly take away the garments of clothing; and it is well said, who have no covering in the cold. For 'covering' has relation to righteousness, 'cold' to sin.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
That secret sinners often pass undiscovered, ver. 13-18. That God punishes such by secret judgments, and reserves them for future judgment, ver. 19-25.
quarantine:anchor (2026-07-29) — cites-ver-19-anchored-1-12
): They cause the naked, whom they have stripped, not leaving them the clothes to their backs, to lodge, in the cold nights, without clothing, so that they are wet with the showers of the mountains, and, for want of a better shelter, embrace the rock, and are glad of a cave or den in it to preserve them from the injuries of the weather.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
They cause the naked to lodge without clothing,....
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
But no desert can set men out of the reach of God's eye and hand. Their trade is to steal, and to make a prey of all about them. They have chosen it as their trade; it is their work, because there is more to be got by it, and it is got more easily, than by an honest calling.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
UMBREIT understands it of the Bedouin robbers, who are quite regardless of the comforts of life, "They pass the night naked, and uncovered," &c. But the allusion to Job 22:6, makes the English Version preferable (see on Job 24:10). Frost is not uncommon at night in those regions (Ge 31:40).
They cause the naked to lodge without clothing - Or rather, They spend the night naked, without clothing; and without a covering from the cold: another characteristic of the wandering Arabs. They are ill-fed, ill-clothed. and often miserable off, even for tents. They can have little household stuff: as they are plunderers, they are often obliged to fly for their lives, and cannot encumber themselves with what is not absolutely needful.
The words behind it
7 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| עָר֣וֹם | arom | naked | H6174 → | 16 times |
| יָ֭לִינוּ | yalinu | they spend [the] night | H3885 → | 84 times |
| מִבְּלִ֣י | mibeli | because not | H1097 → | 58 times |
| לְב֑וּשׁ | levush | clothing | H3830 → | 33 times |
| וְאֵ֥ין | veein | and there not | H369 → | 789 times |
| כְּ֝ס֗וּת | kesut | [is] covering | H3682 → | 8 times |
| בַּקָּרָֽה׃ | bakarah | in the coldness | H7135 → |
עָר֣וֹםnaked
aromH6174 →16 times
יָ֭לִינוּthey spend [the] night
yalinuH3885 →84 times
מִבְּלִ֣יbecause not
mibeliH1097 →58 times
לְב֑וּשׁclothing
levushH3830 →33 times
וְאֵ֥יןand there not
veeinH369 →789 times
כְּ֝ס֗וּת[is] covering
kesutH3682 →8 times
בַּקָּרָֽה׃in the coldness
bakarahH7135 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Isaiah 58:7Isn’t it to share your bread with the hungry, to bring the poor and homeless into your home, to clothe the naked when you see him, and not to turn away from your own…
it leads to
- Matthew 25:35–45
For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you took Me in,
- Luke 3:11
John replied, “Whoever has two tunics should share with him who has none, and whoever has food should do the same.”
- Ezekiel 18:7
He does not oppress another, but restores the pledge to the debtor. He does not commit robbery, but gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing.
- 1 John 3:17–18
If anyone with earthly possessions sees his brother in need, but withholds his compassion from him, how can the love of God abide in him?
- Proverbs 28:27
Whoever gives to the poor will not be in need, but he who hides his eyes will receive many curses.
- Matthew 25:35–45
Through
Job 22:6For you needlessly demanded security from your brothers and deprived the naked of their clothing.
it leads to
- Exodus 22:26
If you take your neighbor’s cloak as collateral, return it to him by sunset,
- Ezekiel 18:12
He oppresses the poor and needy; he commits robbery and does not restore a pledge. He lifts his eyes to idols; he commits abominations.
- Ezekiel 18:16
He does not oppress another, or retain a pledge, or commit robbery. He gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing.
- Exodus 22:26
About Job
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XVI; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; R. A. Watson, The Book of Job, Expositor's Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.