Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
Job 22:6 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 6. 6For thou hast taken a pledge from thy brother for nought, and stripped the naked of their clothing.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Job 22:6 advances the thought unit with the words “For thou hast taken a pledge from thy brother for nought, and stripped the naked of their clothing.” Eliphaz alleges economic exploitation without evidence supplied by the narrator.
Read It With
- Job 22:5–22:14
Read Job 22:6 with 22:5–22:14. Read alone, “For thou hast taken a pledge from thy brother for nought, and stripped the naked of their clothing” could lose its speaker, the question or claim it develops, and the unit's outcome. The complete movement establishes: Eliphaz accuses Job of exploiting debtors, withholding water and bread, favoring the powerful, dismissing widows, and crushing orphans, then says darkness follows.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Eliphaz's invented exploitation charges collide with the narrator's integrity verdict, the divine 'without cause' statement, and Job's later detailed oath concerning vulnerable people. Within that relationship, Job 22:6 advances the thought unit through “For thou hast taken a pledge from thy brother for nought, and stripped the naked of their clothing.”
Read Job 22:5–14 together
Why these verses belong together: Job 22:5–22:14 follows the pinned KJV paragraphing and holds together one sustained speech movement: “Eliphaz Invents a Catalogue of Job's Crimes.” The next unit begins with a new stanza, question sequence, scene, speaker response, or rhetorical turn.
Verse 5. 5 Is not thy wickedness great? and thine iniquities infinite?
Verse 6. 6 For thou hast taken a pledge from thy brother for nought, and stripped the naked of their clothing.
Verse 7. 7 Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink, and thou hast withholden bread from the hungry.
Verse 8. 8 But as for the mighty man, he had the earth; and the honourable man dwelt in it.
Verse 9. 9 Thou hast sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken.
Verse 10. 10 Therefore snares are round about thee, and sudden fear troubleth thee;
Verse 11. 11 Or darkness, that thou canst not see; and abundance of waters cover thee.
Verse 12. 12 Is not God in the height of heaven? and behold the height of the stars, how high they are!
Verse 13. 13 And thou sayest, How doth God know? can he judge through the dark cloud?
Verse 14. 14 Thick clouds are a covering to him, that he seeth not; and he walketh in the circuit of heaven.
Follow the Context
- Identify Eliphaz's stated claim in Job 22:5–22:14.
- Eliphaz accuses Job of exploiting debtors, withholding water and bread, favoring the powerful, dismissing widows, and crushing orphans, then says darkness follows.
- Keep this interpretive control visible: The narrative supplies no evidence for these charges; they are explicit examples of speculating that suffering proves hidden abuse.
What This Verse Is Not Saying
Job 22:6 does not permit “For thou hast taken a pledge from thy brother for nought, and stripped the naked of their clothing” to be detached from its named speaker and complete thought unit. Job 22:6 does not describe an established act by Job.
What Remains True
Eliphaz turns suffering into an invented allegation of economic abuse without narrative evidence. Job 22:6 keeps that conclusion accountable to the line “For thou hast taken a pledge from thy brother for nought, and stripped the naked of their clothing.”
How It Can Shape Life
- Require evidence for serious accusations and protect sufferers from suspicion masquerading as spiritual insight. Keep the selected wording “For thou hast taken a pledge from thy brother for nought, and stripped the naked of their clothing” and Job 22:5–22:14's complete movement visible while acting.
Teach It Back
Explain why Job 22:6 advances the thought unit. Paraphrase “For thou hast taken a pledge from thy brother for nought, and stripped the naked of their clothing,” identify Eliphaz, use 22:5–22:14, state one material uncertainty when present, and reject one conclusion this verse does not authorize.
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Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Job 22:5–22:14 — Eliphaz Invents a Catalogue of Job's CrimesSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Exact location: Job 22:5–22:14, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Job
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a complete apparatus or interpretation.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Job.xml, OSIS 22:5–22:14
Open the fixed Hebrew Job file ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible First Edition Notes: Job
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006; current official PDF
Supports: Verse-level controls for Job's difficult Hebrew, syntax, older KJV language, textual issues, speech boundaries, and alternatives in Job 22:5–22:14.
Exact location: Official NET Job PDF, exact translator, study, and textual notes attached to Job 22:5–22:14
Open the official NET Job PDF ↗modern scholarly book course
Job course: summary, outline, background, introductory issues, theological themes, and Bible in the world
Daniel J. Simundson and Kathryn Schifferdecker
Enter the Bible, Luther Seminary, current online edition inspected 2026
Supports: Book-level and passage-level literary, historical, theological, and pastoral synthesis with speaker distinctions and visible uncertainty.
Exact location: Enter the Bible Job course, Outline and passage studies: third-cycle breakdown; applied to Job 22:5–22:14
Open the Enter the Bible Job course ↗peer reviewed open access literary and theological article
A Matter of Justice: The Openness of the Book of Job
Hans Ausloos
Old Testament Essays 36.1, 2023
Supports: Polyphony, retribution critique, justice, Job's response, divine verdict, and the book's interpretive openness.
Exact location: Ausloos, 'A Matter of Justice,' OTE 36.1 (2023), pp. 151-165, poetic dialogue, protest, retribution, and polyphony; applied to Job 22:5–22:14
Open Ausloos on Job and justice ↗