Without clothing, they spend the night naked; they have no covering against the cold.
Parallel translations
- WEB 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.
- NKJV They spend the night naked, without clothing, And have no covering in the cold.
- NASB “They spend the night naked, without clothing, And have no covering against the cold.
- NLT All night they lie naked in the cold, without clothing or covering.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The poor sleep naked and exposed, having no covering in the cold. It matters as a stark image of those stripped bare by oppression.
Overview
Job depicts the destitute lying through the night without clothing or shelter against the cold. They have been robbed even of basic protection from the elements. The Law required returning a poor man's cloak by nightfall (Exod. 22:26-27), so this neglect is a direct violation of God's compassionate commands.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Exod 22:26–27If you take your neighbor’s cloak as collateral, return it to him by sunset,
- Job 22:6For you needlessly demanded security from your brothers and deprived the naked of their clothing.
- Deut 24:11–13You are to stand outside while the man to whom you are lending brings the security out to you.
- Acts 9:31Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria experienced a time of peace. It grew in strength and numbers, living in the fear of the Lord and the encouragement of the Holy Spirit.
- Job 31:19–20if I have seen one perish for lack of clothing, or a needy man without a cloak,
- Gen 31:40As it was, the heat consumed me by day and the frost by night, and sleep fled from my eyes.
- Prov 31:21When it snows, she has no fear for her household, for they are all clothed in scarlet.
- Isa 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 flesh and blood?
- Job 24:10Without clothing, they wander about naked. They carry the sheaves, but still go hungry.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Job's cry for a mediator who can lay his hand on both God and man, and his confidence that 'my Redeemer lives' and will stand on the earth, reaches forward to Jesus the living Redeemer.
How Job 24:7 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.