As the judge of the people is himself, so are his officers; and what manner of man the ruler of the city is, such are all they that dwell therein.
All Commentaries on Wisdom of Sirach 10:2 Go To Wisdom of Sirach 10
Rabanus Maurus
AD 856
The city of Christ is the holy church, which follows his footsteps with the affection of a devoted heart and imitates him in the realization of good works. It is there where his ministers, that is, the leaders of the faithful, and the holy preachers observe his commandments and never cease in ordering others to do so as well. And Qoheleth praises their conduct inspired by moderation: "Happy are you, O land, when your king is the son of free people, and your princes feast at the proper time, for strength, and not for drunkenness!" Of another king he says quite the opposite: "Woe to you, O land, when your king is a child, and your princes feast in the morning!" Woe, then, to the land whose king is the devil, always avid for new prey; as judges and princes he has those who love the pleasures of this world, those who say before their death arrives, "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die." Instead, blessed is the land of the church, for Christ is its king, the son of nobles, of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who descends from the lineage of the prophets and all the saints, from those who have not been dominated by sin and for that reason are free. His princes are the apostles and all the saints, whose king is the son of nobles, and they do not eat until the morning"or with voracious appetites. They do not indeed search for the pleasures of this world, but they will eat in their due time, when the moment of reward arrives: "Blessed is one who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God."
