In verses 6-9 Eliphaz specifies the sins Job has committed. They are all sins in which a man of power could oppress people and cause them to suffer.

For you have exacted pledges of your brothers for nothing: verse 6 begins with the Hebrew link word ki “Because,” “For the following reason,” which leads up to the conclusion marked by “therefore” in verse 10. The tenses of the verbs imply habitual action. Eliphaz accuses Job of having exacted pledges, which means here that the lender of money takes an object belonging to the borrower and holds it until the debt is repaid. For the conditions required when accepting clothing as a pledge, see the next line. Your brothers can refer to Job’s own brothers, close relatives, or more generally his kinsmen. For nothing translates the same expression used in 1.9, when Satan tells God that Job does not fear God “for nothing.” In verse 6 it means “wrongly, unjustifiably.” That is, Job, without any reason, unjustifiably, wrongfully, took pledges from his brothers.

The second half of this verse explains the first half. It was against the law to keep for more than one day a garment taken as a pledge (Exo 22.25-26). It was required by law to return it before night so that the poor debtor could have it to cover his body at night. And stripped the naked of their clothing: as prose this line would be considered inappropriate, since the naked are already stripped. The thought is, however, that these people become naked by being stripped of their clothing. Good News Translation readjusts the elements of this expression: “to make your brother repay … you took away … and left him nothing to wear.” Verse 6 may be rendered, for example, “You have done wrong by lending your brothers money, and took their things when they could not repay you; you even took their clothes and left them naked.”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, Wiliam. A Handbook on Job. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1992. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .