Deuteronomy 22:8

(4) BATTLEMENTS FOR NEW BUILDINGS (Deuteronomy 22:8)

8 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.

THOUGHT QUESTIONS 22:8

366.

God was even interested in the design of the house, or was it another interest?

367.

Read Numbers 35:33 and Genesis 9:6 and indicate how they relate to our text.

AMPLIFIED TRANSLATION 22:8

8 When you build a new house, then you shall put a railing around your [flat] roof, so that no one may fall from there, and bring guilt of blood upon your house.

COMMENT 22:8

The Hebrew word for battlement (maaqeh), a restraining, holding back, is simply rendered parapet by most modern translators and lexicons. This barrier for a flat roof was more than likely a low wall in most cases, perhaps a railing (Amplified O. T.) in others.

Its purpose, of course, was protection, lest the owner be guilty, in a roundabout way, of injuring or taking the life of another. It was a mandatory safety feature for each home.

THAT THOU BRING NOT BLOOD UPON THY HOUSE (Deuteronomy 22:8)Apparently the law of Numbers 35:33, Cf. Genesis 9:6, would apply here, i.e., if the owner failed to take this precaution he would be liable for the death of any who accidentally fell from it.