Deuteronomy 22:8

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.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(8) When thou buildest a new house.—Obviously the Law refers to houses with flat roofs, upon which it was customary to walk (1Samuel 9:25-26; 2Samuel 11:2).

Benson Commentary

Deuteronomy 22:8. Thou shalt make a battlement — A fence or breast-work, because the roofs of their houses were made flat, that men might walk on them. Blood — The guilt of blood, by a man’s fall from the top of thy house, through thy neglect of this necessary provision. The Jews say, that by the equity of this law, they are obliged, and so are we, to fence or remove every thing whereby life may be endangered, as wells, or bridges, lest if any perish through the omission, their blood be required at the hands of those who have neglected to perform so plain a duty.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

22:5-12 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 the world. Even in putting on our garments, as in eating or in drinking, all must be done with a serious regard to preserve our own and others' purity in heart and actions. Our eye should be single, our heart simple, and our behaviour all of a piece.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

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.).

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

8. 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 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.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

A battlement, i.e. a fence or breastwork, because the roofs of their houses were made flat or plain, that men might walk on them. See Judges 16:27 1 Samuel 9:25 2 Samuel 11:2 Nehemiah 8:16 Matthew 10:27.

Blood, i.e. the guilt of blood, by a man’s fall from the top of thy house, through thy neglect of this necessary provision.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

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. A battlement, as Jarrift describes it, was a fence round the roof; or, as more fully described by Kimchi (h), it was an edifice made for a roof round about it, ten hands high, or more, that a person might not fall from it; so Ben Melech from him. The reason of this law was, because the roofs of houses in those countries were flat, on which they used to walk for diversion and recreation, or retire for devotion, meditation, prayer, and social conversation; such they were in the times of the Canaanites, Joshua 2:6 and in the times of Saul and David, 1 Samuel 9:25 and in the times of the New Testament; See Gill on Matthew 10:27; see Gill on Matthew 24:17; see Gill on Mark 2:4; see Gill on Acts 10:9, and so in later times, and to this day. Rauwolff (i), traveller in those parts, relates, that at Tripoli in Phoenicia,"they have low houses, ill built, and flat at the top, as they are generally in the east; for they cover their houses with a flat roof or floor, so that you may walk about as far as the houses go, and the neighbours walk over the tops of their houses to visit one another; and sometimes in the summer they sleep on the top of them.''Now to prevent falling from thence, and mischief thereby, such a battlement as before described was ordered:

that thou bring not blood upon thy house; be not the occasion of blood being shed, or contract guilt of blood through negligence of such a provision the law directs to, the guilt of manslaughter, or of shedding innocent blood in thy house, as the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem; hence the Talmudists (k) extend this to other things, and by this law also they suppose men are bound to guard against all dangers in any other way; as if a man had a well or pit of water in his courtyard, he ought either to put a cover over it, or to make a fence round it as high as this battlement (l):

if any man fall from thence; that is, if a man walking on the roof of an house should make a slip or a false step, and stumble and reel, and so be falling, and fall from thence; which might have been prevented, even his falling from thence or to the ground, if such a battlement had been made.

(f) Hilchot Rotzeach, c. 11. sect. 1.((g) T. Bab. Cholin, fol. 136. 1. So Maimonides, ib. sect. 2.((h) Sepher Shorash. rad. (i) Travels, par. 1. c. 2. p. 17. Ed. Ray. (k) T. Bab. Bava Kama, fol. 15. 2.((l) Maimon. Hilchot Rotzeach, c. 11. sect. 4.

Geneva Study Bible

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.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

8. Of Protecting Roofs. Only in D. E, Exodus 21:33 f., exacts from him who leaves a pit open the price of a beast fallen into it, but says nothing as to houses. D’s frequent reference to building is another sign of its later date. Neglect of this law would be punished under the laws on manslaughter and maiming. Battlement, Heb. ma‘aḳeh, only here (cp. Ar. ‘akâ, ‘to hinder). Roof, Heb. gag, deriv. doubtful. Cf. Syr. geg, ‘plaster’ (M’Lean Dict. of Vernac. Syriac). Blood, LXX φόνος.

Ḫammurabi fixes penalties for unsound building involving death or damage, § 229–233. In W. Asia roofs are flat, or where they are domed because timber is scarce, as in Jerusalem, flat terraces are left round the domes, so that they can be used for taking the air, private conversation, worship, etc., as in Joshua 2:6, 1 Samuel 9:26, 2 Samuel 11:2; 2 Samuel 16:22, Isaiah 22:1, Jeremiah 19:13, Zephaniah 1:5, Matthew 24:17, Acts 10:9. In towns there is generally a stone-wall on the outside and a paling on the inside above the court. But Baldensperger says (PEFQ, 1904, 261), ‘the roof is designated ḥaiṭ which means “protected,” although, as a matter of fact, it is not protected at all on the most dangerous side.’

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 8. - Still less was human life to be exposed to danger through neglect of proper precautions. The houses in Palestine, as in other parts of the East, had flat roofs, and, as these were much frequented by the inhabitants for various purposes (cf. Joshua 2:6; 2 Samuel 11:2; 2 Samuel 18:24; Nehemiah 8:16; Matthew 10:27; Acts 10:9), it was necessary that a battlement or balustrade should surround the roof, in order to prevent persons falling over. Hence the direction here given. Deuteronomy 22:8

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Still less were they to expose human life to danger through carelessness. "If thou build a new house, make a rim (maakeh) - i.e., a balustrade - to thy roof, that thou bring not blood-guiltiness upon thy house, if any one fall from it." The roofs of the Israelitish houses were flat, as they mostly are in the East, so that the inhabitants often lived upon them (Joshua 2:6; 2 Samuel 11:2; Matthew 10:27). - In Deuteronomy 22:9-11, there follow several prohibitions against mixing together the things which are separated in God's creation, consisting partly of a verbal repetition of Leviticus 19:19 (see the explanation of this passage). - To this there is appended in Deuteronomy 22:12 the law concerning the tassels upon the hem of the upper garment (Numbers 15:37.), which were to remind the Israelites of their calling, to walk before the Lord in faithful fulfilment of the commandments of God (see the commentary upon this passage).