This brings us up against the very important question of how biblical commands work. Many commands in the Bible are given as examples of how to apply more general principles. For example, Deuteronomy 22:8 says, “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.” This command is an application of the principle in Leviticus 19:18: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Today, most of us do not spend time on our roofs. A modern application of “Love your neighbor as yourself” would be to build a railing around a deck or a fence around a swimming pool. The Bible often presents a principle, provides a few examples, and then leaves it to us to create other applications of the principle.