Deuteronomy 32:4

Summary

Deuteronomy 32:4 describes God using the metaphor ha-Tzur ("the Rock", H6697H), affirming that his work is complete/perfect, his ways are just, and his character combines faithfulness with an absence of wrongdoing. The verse closes with a double affirmation of righteousness and uprightness.

Key words

• ha-Tzur ("the rock", H6697H) — definite noun with article ha (H9009), used as an epithet rather than a simile; the text does not say "he is like a rock" but names him directly "the Rock."
• ta.Mim ("[is] perfect", H8549G) — masculine singular adjective, predicate describing po.'o.L ("his work", H6467) which carries a possessive suffix -o (H9023, "his").
• mish.Pat ("[is] justice", H4941H) — singular noun functioning as predicate for the construct phrase khol-de.ra.Kha-v ("all his ways", H3605 + H1870G + H9023), literally "all his ways [are] justice."
• 'el 'e.mu.Nah ("a God of faithfulness", H0410G + H0530) — construct chain: 'el ("God of…") governs the abstract noun 'e.mu.Nah ("faithfulness"), producing a description rather than a simple adjective.
• tza.Dik ve.ya.Shar Hu' ("righteous and upright he", H6662 + H3477G + H1931) — two adjectives followed by the independent pronoun Hu' ("he"), placing emphasis on the subject at the end of the clause.

What the text says

The verse is built as a chain of nominal clauses, each asserting a quality without a verb "to be" (which Hebrew often omits in the present tense). The opening phrase ha-Tzur ta.Mim po.'o.lo ("the Rock, perfect [is] his work") sets ha-Tzur as the subject description, followed immediately by a statement about "his work" (po.'o.lo, with the possessive suffix -o, H9023). The particle ki (H3588A, "for/that") introduces the following clause as either explanation or a further assertion: "all his ways [are] justice" — here khol-de.ra.Kha-v is a construct chain ("all of his ways") functioning as subject, with mish.Pat ("justice") as predicate noun rather than adjective, so the ways are equated with justice itself, not merely described as "just."

The next unit, 'el 'e.mu.Nah ("a God of faithfulness"), uses a construct relationship: 'el ("God of...") is bound to the abstract noun 'e.mu.Nah ("faithfulness"), so the phrase names God through the attribute rather than attributing faithfulness to him with an adjective. This is followed by ve-'Ein 'Avel ("and there is no injustice/perversity"), where 'Ein (H0369) is a construct-based particle of negation, literally "there is no [instance] of 'Avel" ("injustice", H5766A). The final clause, tzaddiq ve-yashar Hu' ("righteous and upright, he"), places the pronoun Hu' (H1931) at the end, which in Hebrew syntax gives emphatic weight to the subject after the two adjectives have already been stated.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders the opening differently, beginning with theos ("God") rather than a "Rock" epithet — the Hebrew ha-Tzur is not reflected as "rock" in the Greek text given. The LXX also adds Kyrios ("Lord") at the very end, a word not present in the Hebrew clause tzaddiq ve-yashar Hu'. The Vulgate similarly opens with "Dei perfecta sunt opera" ("of God, the works are perfect"), taking a different subject placement than the Hebrew, which centers the sentence on ha-Tzur as subject.