איוב, פרק כ״ד, פסוק ט׳

The cruelty of the wicked finds its ultimate expression in the cynical exploitation of society's most vulnerable members. Instead of offering protection to the helpless, corrupt individuals strip them of their most basic needs, completely trampling their dignity and freedom.

The depths of this cruelty can be understood in a few different ways. One perspective paints a physical picture of abuse, where an infant who has already lost a father is violently snatched straight from its mother's breast, depriving the child of its only source of nourishment [רש״י, רמב״ן, מלבי״ם, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. Another perspective frames this abuse through the lens of relentless theft. Driven by a deep-seated habit of plundering, the wicked lose all capacity for mercy and willingly rob even a defenseless orphan [מצודת דוד, רלב״ג]. It is even suggested that the orphan may have already lost his father's estate in a previous raid, yet these attackers still come to cruelly strip away the meager scraps that remain [רמב״ן, אלשיך, תקות אנוש].

This exploitation extends to how the wicked handle financial debts, specifically the practice of taking collateral. The primary approach among commentators is that creditors seize the very last piece of clothing worn by a poor person, leaving him completely naked. In doing so, they blatantly ignore the Torah prohibitions against taking a person's essential garments as a pledge. To justify this theft, they might invent false accusations or claim that the victim's deceased father owed them money [מצודת דוד, רלב״ג, ביאור שטיינזלץ, תקות אנוש, אלשיך]. A different approach suggests an even darker reality regarding what is taken as a pledge. Rather than stealing the clothes off a poor man's back, the wicked seize his young children. They demand the infants as collateral for unpaid debts, with the ultimate goal of forcing them into slavery to work their fields and vineyards [מלבי״ם].