English Standard Version
Deuteronomy 22:8
8"When you build a new house, you shall make a parapet for your roof, that you may not bring the guilt of blood upon your house, if anyone should fall from it.
Deuteronomy 22:8 in other versions
- King James Version (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.
- New International Version (NIV)When you build a new house, make a parapet around your roof so that you may not bring the guilt of bloodshed on your house if someone falls from the roof.
- New King James Version (NKJV)“When you build a new house, then you shall make a parapet for your roof, that you may not bring guilt of bloodshed on your household if anyone falls from it.
- New Living Translation (NLT)“When you build a new house, you must build a railing around the edge of its flat roof. That way you will not be considered guilty of murder if someone falls from the roof.
Context of Deuteronomy 22:8
6"If you come across a bird's nest in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs and the mother sitting on the young or on the eggs, you shall not take the mother with the young. 7You shall let the mother go, but the young you may take for yourself, that it may go well with you, and that you may live long. "When you build a new house, you shall make a parapet for your roof, that you may not bring the guilt of blood upon your house, if anyone should fall from it. 9"You shall not sow your vineyard with two kinds of seed, lest the whole yield be forfeited, the crop that you have sown and the yield of the vineyard. 10You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together.
Read all of Deuteronomy 22Deuteronomy 22:8 word by word
כִּ֤י תִבְנֶה֙ בַּ֣יִת חָדָ֔שׁ וְעָשִׂ֥יתָ מַעֲקֶ֖ה לְגַגֶּ֑ךָ וְלֹֽא־תָשִׂ֤ים דָּמִים֙ בְּבֵיתֶ֔ךָ כִּֽי־יִפֹּ֥ל הַנֹּפֵ֖ל מִמֶּֽנּוּ׃ סRead the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- When thou buildestבָּנָהbânâh · to buildH1129
- a newחָדָשׁchâdâsh · newH2319
- houseבַּ֫יִתbayith · house: homeH1004
- then thou shalt makeעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to makeH6213
- a battlementמַעֲקֶהma‛ăqeh · parapetH4624
- for thy roofגָּגgâg · roofH1406
- that thou bringשׂוּםώûm ώîym · to set: putH7760
- not bloodדָּםdâm · bloodH1818
- if any manנָפַלnâphal · to fall: fallH5307
Cross-references for Deuteronomy 22:8
- Exodus 21:28"When an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox shall be stoned, and its flesh shall not be eaten, but the owner of the ox shall not be liable.
- Exodus 22:6"If fire breaks out and catches in thorns so that the stacked grain or the standing grain or the field is consumed, he who started the fire shall make full restitution.
- Romans 14:13Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother.
- 1 Corinthians 10:32Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God,
- Philippians 1:10so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ,
- 1 Thessalonians 5:22Abstain from every form of evil.
- 2 Samuel 11:2It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king's house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful.
- Isaiah 22:1The oracle concerning the valley of vision. What do you mean that you have gone up, all of you, to the housetops,
- Jeremiah 19:13The houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah—all the houses on whose roofs offerings have been offered to all the host of heaven, and drink offerings have been poured out to other gods—shall be defiled like the place of Topheth.'"
- Matthew 10:27What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops.
- Mark 2:4And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay.
- Acts 10:9The next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray.
- Ezekiel 3:18If I say to the wicked, 'You shall surely die,' and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person shall die for his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand.
- Ezekiel 32:2"Son of man, raise a lamentation over Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him: "You consider yourself a lion of the nations, but you are like a dragon in the seas; you burst forth in your rivers, trouble the waters with your feet, and foul their rivers.
- Matthew 18:6but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.
- Acts 20:26Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all,
Commentaries on Deuteronomy 22:8
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 8A 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.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 6-8Verses 6-8 These precepts are designed to cultivate a spirit of humanity. Compare Deuteronomy 25:4; Leviticus 22:28; and 1 Corinthians 9:9-10. Deuteronomy 22:8 The roofs of houses in Palestine were flat and used for various purposes. Compare Joshua 2:6; 2 Samuel 11:2; Acts 10:9, etc. A battlement was almost a necessary protection. It was to be, according to the rabbis, at least two cubits high (about 3 ft.).Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 5-12Verses 5-12 God's providence extends itself to the smallest affairs, and his precepts do so, that even in them we may be in the fear of the Lord, as we are under his eye and care. Yet the tendency of these laws, which seem little, is such, that being found among the things of God's law, they are to be accounted great things. If we would prove ourselves to be God's people, we must have respect to his will and to his glory, and not to the vain fashions of…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 88. thou shalt make a battlement for thy roof, that thou bring not blood upon thine house, if any man fall from thence--The tops of houses in ancient Judea, as in the East still, were flat, being composed of branches or twigs laid across large beams, and covered with a cement of clay or strong plaster. They were surrounded by a parapet breast high. In summer the roof is a favorite resort for coolness, and accidents would frequently happen from persons…Read the comment
Topics related to Deuteronomy 22:8
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Deuteronomy 22
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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Commentaries