Deuteronomy 22:8

Summary

The verse instructs that when a new house is built, a parapet must be constructed on its roof. This measure is tied to preventing "blood" in the house should a person fall from the roof.

Key words

• tiv.Neh ("you will build", H1129) — qal imperfect, marking the future/ongoing action introduced by the conditional ki (H3588A); sets up the case being described.
• ma.'a.Keh ("a parapet", H4624) — masculine singular noun; the object required to be made, syntactically dependent on the sequential perfect 'a.Si.ta ("you will make", H6213H), which continues the action begun by tiv.Neh.
• da.Mim ("blood", H1818) — masculine plural noun. The plural form (rather than singular dam) is grammatically notable; the same root elsewhere in plural form denotes bloodguilt rather than a simple physical substance.
• ha.no.Fel ("the one falling", H5307G with article H9009) — qal participle with definite article, functioning as a substantive ("the faller"). This construction generalizes the subject: it does not name a specific individual but describes whoever might fall.
• yi.Pol ("he will fall", H5307G) — qal imperfect, same root as the participle no.Fel, creating a repetition of the root within the clause ("if the faller falls from it").

What the text says

The verse is built from two parallel conditional clauses, both introduced by ki (H3588A), each governing a distinct part of the instruction. The first protasis, ki tiv.Neh bayit chadash ("if you build a new house"), is followed by a sequential perfect ve-'asita ma'akeh le-gagekha ("and you will make a parapet for your roof"), continuing the verbal sequence begun by the imperfect. This is followed by a negated imperfect, ve-lo tasim damim be-veitekha ("and you will not put blood(s) in your house"), which states the consequence to be avoided.

The second ki clause, ki yippol ha-nofel mimenu ("if the one who falls falls from it"), repeats the root נפל (H5307G) twice — once as a finite imperfect verb and once as a participle with the definite article. This repetition, using the participle substantively ("the falling one" / "whoever falls"), expresses a generalized or hypothetical subject rather than a specific named person. The noun damim (H1818) appears in its plural form, distinct from the singular dam, in a construction attested elsewhere with the sense of bloodguilt rather than physical blood as substance.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders ma'akeh (H4624, "parapet") as στεφάνην ("crown" or "border/coping"), a different structural image than the Hebrew term for a protective railing. The LXX also translates damim (H1818, plural "bloods") with the singular concrete noun φόνον ("murder/killing"), collapsing the Hebrew plural into a single term for a killing.

The Vulgate expands the clause considerably, adding "et sis reus labente alio, et in praeceps ruente" ("and you may be guilty if another slips and falls headlong"), a phrase not present as separate wording in the Hebrew text, which simply states the conditional participial clause ki yippol ha-nofel mimenu.