Deuteronomy 32:4

He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(4) He is the rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.—No such combination of all the words for uprightness, sincerity, equity, and reliability is to be found elsewhere in all Scripture. This is the character of the Rock. This name of God ( Tzur) is one of the characteristics of the song. The word occurs first in Exodus 17, where the Rock in Horeb was smitten; “and that Rock was Christ.” From that time we find that the very names of the leaders in Israel embody this confession. Elizur, my God is a Rock; Zurishaddai, the Almighty is my Rock; and Pedahzur, redeemed by the Rock (Numbers 1:5-6; Numbers 1:10), are examples. So exclusively is the term in Hebrew (Tzûr or Sêlagh) used in this sense, that no man is ever described by it in the Old Testament. And the LXX., in this song and in many other places, do not translate it at all, but give it as God (Θεός). In other places the word Petra (never Petros) is employed. This fact convinces me that the Petra of Matthew 16:18 could only have been understood by Jews as denoting Deity; and that it not only referred to Christ, but to Christ as God. No other interpretation will suit the language of Holy Scripture. This fourth verse, like the third, is a stanza of four lines. The first line is answered by the third, and the second line by the fourth.

Benson Commentary

Deuteronomy 32:4. He is a rock — Stable in his nature, invincible in his power, fixed and immutable in his counsels, promises, and ways; so that if there should be a sad change in your affairs, remember that this proceeds from yourselves, and from the change of your ways toward God, and not from God, with whom is no variableness nor shadow of turning, James 1:17. His work is perfect — All his works, whether of creation, providence, or grace, and all his actions are unblameable, perfect, wise, and righteous. All his ways are judgment — His dealings with you his people, and his administrations in the world toward all mankind, are just and holy in the highest degree. A God of truth — Ever faithful and constant to his promises. This seems to be mentioned in opposition to the infidelity and inconstancy of Israel, which he speaks of afterward. And with out iniquity — Although we are often ignorant of the methods and reasons of the divine procedure, yet it is as impossible there should be injustice or iniquity in God, as that infinite and unchangeable wisdom should act foolishly, or essential goodness should degenerate into malice, or, in the Scripture language, that light should become darkness. Just and right is he — Righteous in all that he doth. How should he do wrong, all whose actions are necessarily founded on perfect and immutable wisdom, justice, and equity?

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

32:3-6 He is a Rock. This is the first time God is called so in Scripture. The expression denotes that the Divine power, faithfulness, and love, as revealed in Christ and the gospel, form a foundation which cannot be changed or moved, on which we may build our hopes of happiness. And under his protection we may find refuge from all our enemies, and in all our troubles; as the rocks in those countries sheltered from the burning rays of the sun, and from tempests, or were fortresses from the enemy. His work is perfect: that of redemption and salvation, in which there is a display of all the Divine perfection, complete in all its parts. All God's dealings with his creatures are regulated by wisdom which cannot err, and perfect justice. He is indeed just and right; he takes care that none shall lose by him. A high charge is exhibited against Israel. Even God's children have their spots, while in this imperfect state; for if we say we have no sin, no spot, we deceive ourselves. But the sin of Israel was not habitual, notorious, unrepented sin; which is a certain mark of the children of Satan. They were fools to forsake their mercies for lying vanities. All wilful sinners, especially sinners in Israel, are unwise and ungrateful.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

He is the Rock, his work is perfect - Rather, the Rock, perfect is his work. This epithet, repeated no less than five times in the Song Deuteronomy 32:15, Deuteronomy 32:18, Deuteronomy 32:30-31, represents those attributes of God which Moses is seeking to enforce, immutability and impregnable strength. Compare the expression "the stone of Israel" in Genesis 49:24; and see 1 Samuel 2:2; Psalm 18:2; Matthew 16:18; John 1:42. Zur, the original of "Rock," enters frequently into the composition of proper names of the Mosaic time, e. g., Numbers 1:5-6, Numbers 1:10; Numbers 2:12; Numbers 3:35, etc. Our translators have elsewhere rendered it according to the sense "everlasting strength" Isaiah 26:4, "the Mighty One" Isaiah 30:29; in this chapter they have rightly adhered to the letter throughout.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

4. He is the Rock—a word expressive of power and stability. The application of it in this passage is to declare that God had been true to His covenant with their fathers and them. Nothing that He had promised had failed; so that if their national experience had been painfully checkered by severe and protracted trials, notwithstanding the brightest promises, that result was traceable to their own undutiful and perverse conduct; not to any vacillation or unfaithfulness on the part of God (Jas 1:17), whose procedure was marked by justice and judgment, whether they had been exalted to prosperity or plunged into the depths of affliction.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

The rock, or, a rock, as for the stability and everlastingness of his nature, and invincibleness of his power, so also for his fixedness and immutability in his counsels and promises and ways; so that if there shall be a sad change in your affairs from a high and prosperous to a calamitous and deplorable condition, as there will be, remember that this proceeds from yourselves, and from the change of your ways and carriages towards God, and not from God, in whom there is no variableness nor shadow of change, Jam 1:17.

His work is perfect; all his works and actions are unblamable, as being perfect, wise, and righteous, as it follows.

All his ways are judgment; all his administrations in the world, and particularly all his dealings with you, are managed with judgment and justice.

A God of truth, constant to his promises: you cannot accuse him of any levity or unfaithfulness towards you to this day.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

He is the rock,.... That is, Jehovah is the rock, whose name Moses proposed to publish; and our God, to whom the heavens and the earth are called upon to ascribe greatness, even Christ the rock of salvation: here begins the song; the first word in it is very emphatic; it has a letter in it larger than usual, to denote the greatness of this Person, and to make it observable; he is "this" or "that rock" (k), by way of eminence, that rock and stone of Israel, Jacob prophesied of, which was typified by the rock Moses had smitten in the wilderness, and which, no doubt, he knew, as the Apostle Paul did, that it was a type of Christ, and had taught the Israelites so to understand it; and therefore this epithet of a divine Person would not seem strange to them, and yet is that rock the unbelieving Jews would and did stumble at, and the rock of salvation they lightly esteemed and rejected; the rock of refuge for sensible sinners to flee unto for shelter and safety from the wrath and justice of God, and from every enemy; the rock the church of God and every believer are built upon, and in which they dwell; and who is the rock of ages that will endure forever, as the Saviour of his people, and the foundation of their faith and hope:

his work is perfect; not so much the work of creation or of providence, which are both the works of Christ, but that of redemption and salvation, in which there is not only a display of all the divine perfections, but is complete in all its parts; the law is perfectly fulfilled, justice is fully satisfied, a perfect righteousness is wrought out, a complete pardon is procured, perfect peace is made, full atonement of sins obtained, and the whole work is finished; and is so perfect that nothing is wanting in it, or can be added to it, nor can it be unravelled or undone again: likewise the work of building the church on this rock is carrying on, and will be perfected when all the elect of God, all given to Christ and redeemed by his blood, shall be called by grace and gathered in; when the last of the chosen ones, and redeemed of the Lamb, is brought in and laid in the building; when Christ shall deliver up the kingdom to the Father complete, and God shall be all in all, and his church and people will be in a perfect state to all eternity:

for all his ways are judgment; his ways, which he himself has taken and walked in; his ways of providence are according to the best judgment and highest wisdom, and according to the strictest justice and equity; his ways of grace towards the salvation of his people, and the building up his church on himself, the rock; all the methods he took in eternity and time were all formed according to the counsel of God, and planned with the greatest wisdom, founded in his righteous nature, and according to covenant compact with his Father, and entered into in the most honourable manner; and in which he brought about the salvation of his people, in perfect consistence with the justice and holiness of God, and to the honour of them and his holy law: and he has executed all his offices of prophet, priest, and King, in the most just and righteous manner: the ways which he has prescribed his people to walk in, and in which he leads them, are ways of truth, righteousness, and holiness; such are all his ordinances and commandments:

a God of truth; so Christ is called; see Gill on Isaiah 65:16; or the true God, which also is his name, 1 John 5:20; and is so called in opposition to fictitious deities, and such who are only so by name or office, but not by nature; whereas he is truly and properly God, as appears from his names and nature, from his perfections, works, and worship, ascribed to him: or "God the truth" (l), for he is "the truth", John 14:6; the truth of all types, promises, and prophecies, which all have their accomplishment in him; the sum and substance of all truths and doctrines, from whom they all come, and in whom they all centre: or "the God of faith" or "faithfulness" (m); the object of faith, and the author and finisher of it; and who is faithful, as the God-man and Mediator, to him that appointed him, being intrusted with all the elect of God, with all promises and blessings of grace for them, with the fulness of grace to communicate unto them, with the glory of God in their salvation, and with their future and final happiness; and is faithful in the discharge of his offices of prophet, priest, and King:

and without iniquity; in his nature, in his heart, in his lips, and in his life; nor was ever any committed by him:

just and right is he; just, both as a divine Person, and as man and Mediator; a lover and doer of righteousness, a worker out of righteousness for his people, and the justifier of them by it; just and righteous, as the, servant of God, as King of saints, and Judge of the whole world; "right" or "upright", which is the character of a divine Person, agrees with Christ, and may denote his sincerity, uprightness, and faithfulness.

(k) "quod attinet ad rupem illam", Piscator; "rupes illa", Van Till; "rupes illa", Vitringa. (l) "Deus veritas", Pagninus, Montanus. (m) "Deus fidei", Vatablus, Cocceius; "Deus veritatis sive fidei", Vitringa.

Geneva Study Bible

He is the {c} Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.

(c) Or mighty God; noting that only God is mighty, faithful and constant in his promise.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

4. The Rock] Or a Rock. This name, Ṣûr, is applied in Deuteronomy 32:15; Deuteronomy 32:18; Deuteronomy 32:30-31; Deuteronomy 32:37, both to Israel’s God and to others. It appears to have been a general Semitic figure for the divine unchangeableness and its refuge for men, and virtually a synonym for God; LXX, θεός as here, βοηθός, φύλαξ and even δίκαιος (1 Samuel 2:2). In Assyr. Bel and other gods are called ‘great mountain’; and with other Semites several theophorous names are compounded with ṣur, e.g. Bar-ṣur in the Senjerli inscription and others in S. Arabia (Zimmern, KAT3[151], 355, 358, 477).

[151] Die Keilinschriften und das AIte Testament, 3rd edition (1903), by H. Zimmern and H. Winckler.

his ways are judgement] Rather Law. Heb. mishpaṭ, which means now a single law or judgement and now justice, is here Law in the sense of order or consistency. So Isaiah 30:18 a God of mishpaṭ. Having laid down the lines of His action in righteousness and wisdom He remains in His dealings with men consistent with those. The idea is expounded in the next two lines: Iniquity is to be taken in its primary sense of breach or deviation, treason. For he LXX read Jehovah.

4–6. God’s Faithfulness, Israel’s Folly

4 The Rock—outright is His working!

Yea, all of His ways are Law,

The God of troth, without treason,

Righteous and upright is He.

5 His sons have dealt corruptly with Him … (?),

A twisted and crooked generation!

6 The Lord do ye thus requite,

O foolish folk and unwise?

Is He not thy sire who begat thee,

He ’tis that made and hath framed thee.

Pulpit Commentary

Verses 4, 5. - He is the Rock, his work is perfect; rather, The Rock! his work is perfect, i.e. blameless, without fault. God is called "the Rock" (הַצוּר), as the unchangeable Refuge and Stronghold of his people, by which they are sustained, and to which they can resort for defense and protection at all times. The epithet is applied to God four times besides in this song (vers. 15, 18, 30, 31); it occurs also frequently in the Psalms (cf. Psalm 19:14; Psalm 28:1; Psalm 31:2, 3; Psalm 62:2, 7; etc.). The Hebrew word, tsur, gut, or zur, appears in several proper names of the Mosaic period, as e.g., Pedahzur, "Rock delivers" (Numbers 1:10), a name of the same import as Pedahel, "God delivers" (Numbers 34:28); Elizur, "God is a Rock" (Numbers 1:5); Zuriel (Numbers 3:35) and Zurishaddai, "the Almighty is Rock" (Numbers 1:6; Numbers 2:12). "Jehovah," says Baumgarten, "is here called Rock, without any qualification, the reason is that he is the only true rock, and all the strength and firmness of earth's stones is but an ectype of his unchangeable faithfulness and rectitude. If one cleaves to the dualism of spirit and nature, and regards the figure as a merely subjective, arbitrary union of the two, such an expression is simply unintelligible; but if we would understand Scripture and religious speech, we must with all earnestness accustom ourselves to recognize the spiritual ground in nature, and apprehend this in the Biblical expression (comp. Steffens' 'Religionsphilosophie,' 1. s. 101, 102)." It is remarkable that none of the ancient versions have retained this epithet here. The LXX. have Θεὸς: the Vulgate, Dens ("Dei opera"); the Targum of Onkelos, תַּקִיפָא, "Mighty;" while the Peshito has simply the pronoun "his" appended to "works," . For all his ways are judgment; i.e. accordant with rectitude (cf. Psalm 145:17). A God of truth; rather, of faithfulness (אְמֶוּנָת, from אָמַן, to stay, or be stayed, to be firm). They have corrupted themselves, their spot is not the spot of his children: they are a perverse and crooked generation. Of this difficult passage the following seems the best construction and rendering: - A perverse and crooked generation not his children, [but] their spot - has become corrupt towards him. The subject of the verb at the beginning of the verse is the "perverse and crooked generation," at the end of it, and between the verb and its subject there is interjected parenthetically the clause, "not his children, but their spot." Spot is here used in a moral sense, as in Job 11:15; Job 31:7; Proverbs 9:7. These corrupt persons claimed to be children of God, but they were not; they were rather a stain and a reproach to them (cf. 2 Peter 2:13; Isaiah 1:4). The rendering above given is substantially that of De Wette, Knobel, Keil, and Herxheimer, by all of whom the "perverse generation "is regarded as the subject of the sentence. This is the view adopted also in the 'Speaker's Commentary.' Some would make "God" the subject, and render, "He hath corrupted to him, or to himself" (margin, Authorized Version; Ibn Ezra, etc.). Others take "spot" as the subject, thus: "Their spot or blemish hath corrupted before him children not his" (Lowth, Dathe); but such renderings are forced, and proceed on constructions of the text which are illegitimate. Donaldson ('Jashar,' pp. 186, 223, edit. See.), following Lowth's construction, appeals to בָּנִים לא אֵמֻן בָּם (ver. 20) as a similar inversion. But the two cases are not parallel. To make them so, we must have here בָנָיו לא מוּם בָּם, "his children in whom is no spot." Ewald takes מוּמָה as the noun here, instead of מוּם, and tracing it to the Syriac , juravit, renders "to him they, his not sons, have corrupted their oath," i.e. have broken it; and this Furst approves. But the phrase, "to corrupt an oath" is unexampled in the Old Testament, and there is no ground for changing the noun. The ancient versions vary considerably here: LXX., ἡμάρτοσαν οὐκ αὐτῷ τέκνα μωμητά: Aq., διέφθειραν αὐτῷ οὐκ δι υἱοὶ αὐτου: Sym., διέφθειραν πρὸς αὔτον οὐχ οἱυἱοι τὸ σύνολον: Vulgate, peccaverunt ei et non filii ejus in sordibus; Ver. Itala., peeca verunt non ei filii maculati; Syriac, "They corrupted but not him, children of defilement." These various renderings indicate that probably the text is and has long been corrupt. Some of the older English versions are worth noting on this verse. Rogers [Matthew], "The frowarde and overthwart generation hath marred them selves to himward, and are not his sonnes for their deformitie's sake;" Bishop's Bible, "Frowardly have they done agaynst him by their vices, not being his own children, but a wicked and froward generation;" Geneva Version, "They have corrupted themselves towards him by their vice, not being his children, but a froward and crooked generation." Deuteronomy 32:4

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

"The Rock - blameless is His work; for all His ways are right: a God of faithfulness, and without injustice; just and righteous is He. Corruptly acts towards Him, not His children; their spot, a perverse and crooked generation." הצּוּר is placed first absolutely, to give it the greater prominence. God is called "the rock," as the unchangeable refuge, who grants a firm defence and secure resort to His people, by virtue of His unchangeableness or impregnable firmness (see the synonym, "the Stone of Israel," in Genesis 49:24). This epithet points to the Mosaic age; and this is clearly shown by the use made of this title of God (Zur) in the construction of surnames in the Mosaic era; such, for example, as Pedahzur (Numbers 1:10), which is equivalent to Pedahel ("God-redeemed," Numbers 34:28), Elizur (Numbers 1:5), Zuriel (Numbers 3:35), and Zurishaddai (Numbers 1:6; Numbers 2:12). David, who had so often experienced the rock-like protection of his God, adopted it in his Psalms (2 Samuel 22:3, 2 Samuel 22:32 equals Psalm 18:3, Psalm 18:32; also Psalm 19:15; Psalm 31:3-4; Psalm 71:3). Perfect (i.e., blameless, without fault or blemish) is His work; for His ways, which He adopts in His government of the world, are right. As the rock, He is "a God of faithfulness," upon which men may rely and build in all the storms of life, and "without iniquity," i.e., anything crooked or false in His nature.