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Chapter 9JonasInstReg.1.9

CAPUT VII. Quod regnum non ab hominibus, sed a Deo, in cujus manu omnia regna consistunt, detur.

Kingship is from God: Biblical Testimony

Through Proverbs, Daniel, and Jeremiah, the chapter declares that no king inherits rule from ancestors; rather, all earthly dominion is directly given by God.

No king should believe that his kingdom is handed to him by his ancestors to rule; rather, he should truly and humbly believe that it is given by God, who says: "Counsel and equity are mine; prudence is mine; strength is mine."✦ Through me kings reign, and those who make the laws decree what is just (Prov. 18:14).1 The prophet Daniel testifies that the earthly kingdom is granted not by human beings but by God, saying: "By the sentence of the watchers it has been decreed, and it is the word of the holy ones and the petition, until those who live come to know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and he will give it to whomever he wills, and he will set the lowliest of men over it (Dan. 4:14). Again, speaking of Nebuchadnezzar to Belshazzar: "Until he should come to know," he says, "that the Most High has power in the kingdom of men, and he will raise up over it whomever he wills (Dan. 5:21). And through Jeremiah: "Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: This is what you are to say to your masters: I made the earth and human beings and the animals that are on the face of the earth by my great strength and by my outstretched arm, and I gave it to the one who was pleasing in my eyes (Jer. 27:5).✦

Warning against Claiming Kingship by Human Right

The prophet Hosea condemns those who reign without divine acknowledgment, and the text warns that God's ignoring such rulers is a sign of rejection.

But those who think an earthly kingdom comes to them from their ancestors, rather than that it is given by the Lord, have applied to themselves the words the Lord condemns through the prophet, saying: 'They reigned, and not by me; princes arose, and I did not acknowledge them' (Hos.✦ 8:4).✦ For when God ignores someone, it is without a doubt to reject them.2

Earthly Kingdom: Gift or Permission? Final Exhortation

Some reign by divine gift, others only by permission, as with hypocritical rulers sent in judgment; therefore every king must govern according to God's will to inherit the eternal kingdom.

So anyone who rules over other mortals for a time should believe that the kingdom has been entrusted to them not by humans, but by God. For many rule by divine gift, and many also rule by God's permission.3 Those who rule devoutly, justly, and mercifully undoubtedly rule through God; but those who rule otherwise rule not by his gift, but only by his permission. Of such people the Lord says through the prophet: "I will give you a king in my fury" (Hos.4 13:10). And Job: "He makes a hypocrite rule because of the sins of the people" (Job 34:3).5 For as Isidore explains: "When God is angry, the people receive the kind of ruler their sin deserves. It is clear, then, that an earthly kingdom is conferred not by cunning, not by ambition, nor by human strength, but by power—indeed by the hidden judgment of divine dispensation. Therefore, whoever is entrusted with it by Him should take care to order and govern it according to His will, so that he may be able to rule happily forever with the One from whom he received it—because it does no one any good to rule an earthly kingdom if (God forbid) he should end up exiled from the eternal one.67

Read the original Latin

Nemo regum a progenitoribus regnum sibi administrari, sed a Deo veraciter atque humiliter credere debet dari, qui dicit: Meum est consilium et aequitas, mea est prudentia, mea est fortitudo. Per me reges regnant, et legum conditores justa decernunt (Prov. XVIII, 14) . Quod non ab hominibus, sed a Deo regnum terrenum tribuatur, Daniel propheta testatur, dicens: In sententia vigilum decretum est, et sermo sanctorum, et petitio, donec cognoscant viventes quoniam dominatur Excelsus in regno hominum, et cuicunque voluerit, dabit illud, et humillimum hominem constituet super illud (Dan. IV, 14) . Item loquens de Nabuchodonosor ad Balthasar: Donec cognosceret, inquit, quod potestatem haberet Altissimus in regno hominum: et quemcunque voluerit, suscitabit super illud (Dan. V, 21) . Et per Jeremiam: Haec dicit Dominus exercituum Deus Israel: Haec dicetis ad dominos vestros: Ego feci terram et homines, et jumenta quae sunt super faciem terrae, in fortitudine mea magna, et in brachio meo extento: et dedi eam ei qui placuit in oculis meis (Jer.

XXVII, 5) . Hi vero qui a progenitoribus sibi succedere regnum terrenum, et non potius a Domino dari putant, illis aptantur quae Dominus per prophetam improbat, dicens: Ipsi regnaverunt, et non ex me; principes exstiterunt, et non cognovi (Ose. VIII, 4) . Ignorare quippe Dei procul dubio reprobare est.

Quapropter quisquis caeteris mortalibus temporaliter imperat, non ab hominibus, sed a Deo sibi regnum commissum credat. Multi namque munere divino, multi etiam Dei permissu regnant. Qui pie et juste et misericorditer regnant, sine dubio per Deum regnant; qui vero secus, non ejus munere, sed permissu tantum regnant. De talibus Dominus per prophetam: Dabo, inquit, tibi regem in furore meo (Ose. XIII, 10) . Et Job: Qui regnare facit hominem hypocritam propter peccata populi (Job XXXIV, 3) . Ut enim Isidorus exponit: « Irascente Deo talem rectorem populi suscipiunt, qualem pro peccato merentur. » Constat ergo quia non astu, non voto, neque brachio fortitudinis humanae, sed virtute, imo occulto judicio dispensationis divinae, regnum confertur terrenum, et idcirco cuicunque ab eo committitur, ita illud secundum ejus voluntatem disponere et gubernare procuret, quatenus cum eo, a quo illud suscepit, feliciter in perpetuum regnare valeat, quoniam nihil prodest cuiquam terreno regno principari, si (quod absit) contigerit eum aeterno extorrem fieri.

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩Prov.8.15 — By me kings reign, and rulers decree what is just.
  2. ↩Jer.27.5 — I made the earth, the beasts that are upon the face of the earth, by my great power and by my outstretched arm; and I give it to whomever is right in my eyes.
  3. ↩Hos.8.4 — They have made kings, but not through me. They have made princes, and I did not know it. With their silver and their gold they have made idols for themselves, so that they may be cut off.
  4. ↩Hos.8.4 — They have made kings, but not through me. They have made princes, and I did not know it. With their silver and their gold they have made idols for themselves, so that they may be cut off.

Notes

  1. 1 ↩Source cites Prov. XVIII, 14; the quoted wording matches the familiar Vulgate locus at Prov. 8:14–15. Left as the source prints it for later reference resolution.
  2. 2 ↩Ignorare Dei can be read as subjective genitive (God's ignoring = his not acknowledging them, picking up non cognovi in the Hosea quote) or, less likely, as ignoring God. Rendered in the former sense as the natural gloss on the prophetic line just cited.
  3. 3 ↩munere divino vs Dei permissu: gift names positive divine bestowal; permission names God's allowance of even unworthy rule. Both still place kingship under God.
  4. 4 ↩Citation is split across s4–s5 as (Ose. XIII, 10). Vulgate Hosea wording matches common 13:11; printed chapter-verse left as source gives it for later Moses resolution.
  5. 5 ↩Printed citation is Job XXXIV, 3, but this Vulgate wording is the well-known Job 34:30 (Qui regnare facit hominem hypocritam propter peccata populi). Rendering keeps the printed reference while flagging likely mis-citation.
  6. 6 ↩voto rendered as ambition (human wish/aspiration for power) in the triad with astu (cunning) and brachio fortitudinis humanae (force); less likely 'vote' or 'vow' here.
  7. 7 ↩aeterno extorrem: 'exile from the eternal [kingdom]'—aeterno is absolute, with regnum understood from terreno regno.

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