Deuteronomy 22:8
in Deuteronomy 22If you build a new house, you are to construct a railing around your roof, so that you do not bring bloodguilt on your house if someone falls from it.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
When thou buildest a new house, then thou shalt make a battlement for thy roof, that thou bring not blood upon thy house, if any man fall from thence.
KJV
When thou buildest a new house, then thou shalt make a battlement for thy roof, that thou bring not blood upon thine house, if any man fall from thence.
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This verse in Deuteronomy 22
Commentary
6 notes on this verseWhen you build a house, you do not quit before building the protective parapet of the house. It is this parapet that prevents one who has ascended onto the house from falling. So it is with the house of the Word. Consequently those who fall because of unfinished buildings fall only from houses which lack the parapet. Those architects and builders bear the blame for such slaughters and falls.
This site's exposition
The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man
on Deuteronomy 22:5-8
Four rules with little in common on the surface, and the last of them shows what kind of law this is. A battlement on a new roof is required so that thou bring not blood upon thine house if any man fall from it, which makes building safety a question of guilt rather than of prudence. The bird's nest rule lets the mother go and takes the young, and it carries the promise attached to honouring parents at Exodus 20:12, that it may be well with thee and thou mayest prolong thy days.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
When thou buildest a new house,.... Which is to be understood of a house to dwell in, not of a granary, barn, or stable, or such like, and every house that is not four cubits square, as Maimonides observes (f): then thou shalt make a battlement for thy roof; in the Talmud (g) it is asked, what is the meaning of, or why is it said, "thy roof?" to except synagogues and schools; the gloss upon which is, synagogues, &c. do not belong to any single person, and besides are no dwelling place.
The Jews say that by the equity of this law they were obliged (and so are we too) to fence, or remove, every thing by which life may be endangered, as to cover draw-wells, keep bridges in repair, and the like, lest, if any perish through our omission, their blood be required at our hand. Odd mixtures are here forbidden,
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A battlement for thy roof - Houses in the East are in general built with flat roofs, and on them men walk to enjoy the fresh air, converse together, sleep, etc.; it was therefore necessary to have a sort of battlement or balustrade to prevent persons from falling off. If a man neglected to make a sufficient defense against such accidents, and the death of another was occasioned by it, the owner of the house must be considered in the light of a murderer.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
In summer the roof is a favorite resort for coolness, and accidents would frequently happen from persons incautiously approaching the edge and falling into the street or court; hence it was a wise and prudent precaution in the Jewish legislator to provide that a stone balustrade or timber railing round the roof should form an essential part of every new house.
The words behind it
15 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּ֤י | ki | if | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| תִבְנֶה֙ | tivneh | you will build | H1129 → | 376 times |
| בַּ֣יִת | bayit | a house | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| חָדָ֔שׁ | chadash | new | H2319 → | 53 times |
| וְעָשִׂ֥יתָ | veasita | and you will make | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| מַעֲקֶ֖ה | maakeh | a parapet | H4624 → | |
| לְגַגֶּ֑ךָ | legagekha | for roof your | H1406 → | |
| וְלֹֽא־ | velo'- | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תָשִׂ֤ים | tasim | you will put | H7760 → | 584 times |
| דָּמִים֙ | damim | blood<s> | H1818 → | 360 times |
| בְּבֵיתֶ֔ךָ | beveitekha | on house your | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | if | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| יִפֹּ֥ל | yipol | he will fall | H5307 → | 435 times |
| הַנֹּפֵ֖ל | hanofel | <the> [one who] falls | H5307 → | 435 times |
| מִמֶּֽנּוּ׃ ס | mimenu | from it | H4480 → | 1188 times |
כִּ֤יif
kiH3588 →4482 times
תִבְנֶה֙you will build
tivnehH1129 →376 times
בַּ֣יִתa house
bayitH1004 →2046 times
חָדָ֔שׁnew
chadashH2319 →53 times
וְעָשִׂ֥יתָand you will make
veasitaH6213 →2628 times
מַעֲקֶ֖הa parapet
maakehH4624 →
לְגַגֶּ֑ךָfor roof your
legagekhaH1406 →
וְלֹֽא־and not
velo'-H3808 →5168 times
תָשִׂ֤יםyou will put
tasimH7760 →584 times
דָּמִים֙blood<s>
damimH1818 →360 times
בְּבֵיתֶ֔ךָon house your
beveitekhaH1004 →2046 times
כִּֽי־if
ki-H3588 →4482 times
יִפֹּ֥לhe will fall
yipolH5307 →435 times
הַנֹּפֵ֖ל<the> [one who] falls
hanofelH5307 →435 times
מִמֶּֽנּוּ׃ סfrom it
mimenuH4480 →1188 times
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
2 Samuel 11:2One evening David got up from his bed and strolled around on the roof of the palace. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing—a very beautiful woman.
it leads to
- Matthew 5:28
But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
- Psalms 119:37
Turn my eyes away from worthless things; revive me with Your word.
- 1 John 2:16
For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not from the Father but from the world.
- Matthew 5:28
Through
Mark 2:4Since they were unable to get to Jesus through the crowd, they uncovered the roof above Him, made an opening, and lowered the paralytic on his mat.
it leads to
- Luke 5:19
but they could not find a way through the crowd. So they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in…
- Luke 5:19
Through
Jeremiah 19:13The houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah will be defiled like that place, Topheth—all the houses on whose rooftops they burned incense to all the host of heaven and…
it leads to
- 2 Kings 23:12
He pulled down the altars that the kings of Judah had set up on the roof near the upper chamber of Ahaz, and the altars that Manasseh had set up in the two courtyards…
- Jeremiah 32:29
And the Chaldeans who are fighting against this city will come in, set it on fire, and burn it, along with the houses of those who provoked Me to anger by burning incense to…
- Zephaniah 1:5
those who bow on the rooftops to worship the host of heaven, those who bow down and swear by the LORD but also swear by Milcom,
- 2 Kings 23:12
Through
Isaiah 22:1This is the burden against the Valley of Vision: What ails you now, that you have all gone up to the rooftops,
it leads to
- Jeremiah 21:13
Behold, I am against you who dwell above the valley, atop the rocky plateau—declares the LORD—you who say, “Who can come against us? Who can enter our dwellings?”
- Jeremiah 21:13
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Deuteronomy
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Origen of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 6.7.