Deutéronome 32:4

Mosheh the prophet said: When I ascended the mountain of Sinai, I beheld the Lord of all the worlds, the Lord, dividing the day into four portions; three hours employed in the law, three with judgment, three in making marriage bonds between man and woman, and appointing to elevate or to abase, and three hours in the care of every created thing: for so it is written: The Mighty One whose works are perfect, for all His ways are judgment, a faithful God before whom no iniquity comes forth, pure and upright is He.

Moshe begins with the Rock Whose deeds are perfect to indicate that any evil that has befallen Israel has been caused by their own evil deeds.

Rock He endures forever, like a rock. Do not be amazed at the use of such an analogy, as they are common in Scripture (e.g., “Who shall roar like a lion” [Hosea 11: 10]). It is impossible for us to describe God in any way other than in terms of His creations (for every thing that exists is His creation). Compare, “the Rock [Hebrew: ṣur] of my heart” [Psalms 73: 26] — meaning support, strength, pillar. There are also those who say that the word comes from “form” (as in “their form [Hebrew: ṣuram] shall waste away in the grave” [Psalms 49: 15]). Their thesis is that God has no substance, but is primal form. In my opinion, however, the former etymology is correct.

Whose acts are perfect Every cause is an imperfect cause, on account of its dependence on its antecedent cause, except for God , the exalted Prime Cause of all. Everything in the universe can be acted upon, except He Who formed the universe.

for all His ways are lawful They do not alter; they follow a unitary Law, which is the Origin of all. All created things alter their actions in accordance with their circumstances; but the actions of God are subject only to His wisdom (that the sun was made to stand still is no disproof; the intricacies of that situation are explained from the words “and the moon, in the valley of Ayyalon” [Joshua 10: 12], as I have explained in its place [no copy of this commentary is known — Translator]).

a trustworthy Power, without injustice I.e., only He is intrinsically powerful. Even the mightiest human achievements are dependent on circumstances to which others have contributed. The sense is that since He is completely powerful, therefore it is not possible that He should do injustice. or The word Power is a nominative to which two separate descriptions [“trustworthy” and “without injustice”] are applied.

Scripture says righteous and upright is He on account of the upcoming phrase To waste from Him, meaning that it is His righteousness to lay waste a perverse nation. He alone is upright, and it is the nature of uprightness to straighten that which is crooked. Thus the word from Him means, those who had been His, in former times. [Here the interpretation begins to employ word groupings that are at variance with the cantillation marks — Translator]

THE ROCK, HIS WORK IS PERFECT. This is an allusion to the attribute of justice. He states His work is perfect for whatever act emanates from Him is perfect and complete, eternally immovable and unchangeable. For all His ways are justice. They are [indeed] the merciful ways, and there is no deficiency in [His] work; [rather, His work is performed] but in a just measure. For justice belongs to the G-d of faithfulness and there is no injustice in the Rock. Thus the justice [dispensed] is righteous and the Rock is upright.

הצור תמים פעלו, this poem envisages the entire future; this is why it deals primarily with the holocaust the Israelites will experience as retribution for their sinfulness. Moses’ point is that no matter what terrible times the Jewish people experience, none of it is a reflection on the perfection of its G’d, the Rock of the universe; He remains perfect throughout in whatever He does.

צדיק וישר הוא, as he will explain forthwith when he lists how G’d has dealt Israel by heaping acts of loving kindness upon them. However, they responded with וישמן ישורון ויבעט, becoming fat and instead of showing gratitude they “kicked” i.e. resented having to obey His commandments. (verse 15)

Do not relate to Him differently on account of what you hear in my song about Israel’s future. Do not come to the mistaken conclusion that G’d will ever change and that the experiences that will befall the Jewish people during the course of history, and which I am about to foreshadow, are evidence of His changing and possibly becoming the Jewish people’s enemy. You are very well aware through the variety of miracles He has performed on your behalf that הצור, He remains the Rock and His actions are always motivated by pure motives. This being so, if at times He does not appear to help you, save you, this is not due to a weakening on His part, neither is He hard of hearing so that He did not hear your pleas; never ascribe any injustice to Him;

כל דרכיו משפט, all of His paths are justice;

א-ל אמונה, a totally reliable and loyal G’d is He; when He swore to the patriarchs that He would perform deeds of love for their children on account of these patriarchs’ merit;

ואין עול, never false, even when He visits retribution on you.

צדיק, because He is so righteous He will not abandon you even in exile

וישר הוא, not withholding from anyone of His creatures the reward due to it for any good deeds. This is the reason why He often appears as being overly patient before He pays back certain people for their sins. He has to reward, pay, those who hate Him while they are still on earth as they have already forfeited any portion they claimed to life in the hereafter.

הצור תמים פעלו, “the Rock, His work is perfect;” it is only fair that you will acknowledge His greatness seeing that he is unshakably strong and therefore whatever He has created is perfect; moreover He does not display anger when facing those who are bent to make Him display His anger.

צדיק וישר הוא, “He is righteous and just.” This refers to those human beings that act in accordance with His will. He does not withhold their reward. Seeing that Moses was bent on explaining how G–d takes revenge from those Israelites who deliberately cause Him anger, before doing the same to the gentile nations, he mentioned the righteous and his judgment first.