Commentaire de citation sur Les Proverbes 24:21

In this verse Solomon warns not to run after princes and after people appointed to the king’s palace in order to curry favor with them, seeing that He, G’d, is the ruler of the universe. Getting too close to the authorities will result in these people suffering damage seeing that rulers on earth are compared to fire, which while beneficial also spreads damage at the same time and consumes all those near it. The benefits derived from fire are that it warms you when you are cold and that it provides light. The damage accruing to those who come too close to it are that they will get burned. Our sages in Avot 1,10 have paraphrased this thought when they said: “hate the holding of high office and do not seek to become intimate with the authorities.”
The reason that the government is called רשות in the language of our sages is that they have the רשות, “authority,” and the power to do what they want, to open, to close, to save and to destroy. On the same subject our sages in Avot 2,3 also said: “be cautious with the ruling authorities, for they befriend you only for their own interest when it is to their advantage but they do not stand by a man in times of distress.”
The disadvantages cited as the danger when associating too closely with the authorities are in addition to the built-in problem that being involved with the authorities invariably brings in its wake a loosening of one’s ties to G’d, neglect of Torah study, seeing that time devoted to it will be interpreted as time spent at the expense of one’s duties vis-a-vis the demands of the state. This is what prompted Solomon to say in Proverbs 24,21: “fear the Lord my son and the king, do not associate with those who keep changing.” Solomon advises us to first and foremost cultivate fear of the Lord before worrying about respect for the local king. Under no circumstances should one have one’s priorities mixed up by first cultivating the relationship with one ‘s terrestrial ruler. If one were to do this it is tantamount to desecrating the name of the Lord.
Concerning this subject we can learn a lesson from the woman in Shunem who was asked by the prophet Elisha if he could do something for her such as interceding on her behalf with the king. Her response was that בתוך עמי אני יושבת, “I live inconspicuously amongst my people;” she meant that she did not want to get involved with the authorities (compare Kings II 4,8). These are the considerations which prompted Solomon to say “when you sit down to dine with the king, consider well who is before you.” Do not be in a hurry to become close to the authorities until you have weighed all the pros and cons. Consider what happened to people who preceded you in such positions. Solomon adds another verse dealing with the subject (Proverbs 29,26). ”Many seek a ruler’s audience, but a man gets justice from the Lord.” What the author meant is that although there are many supplicants wanting favors from a king only a few have their wishes granted so that they are permanent beneficiaries. If you are a discriminating intellect bent on pursuing permanently useful objectives you will refrain from chasing such favours, as the merely physical food served at the king’s table is truly not the sum total of your aspirations in life. Solomon therefore added in Proverbs 23,2: “thrust a knife into your gullet, if you are a man of large appetite.” This is the plain meaning of the above quotation.

ירא את ה' בני ומלך, עם שונים אל תתערב, “Fear the Lord my son and the king, do not associate with those who keep changing” (Proverbs 24,21).

In this verse Solomon warns man to fear the Lord, Hashem, first and foremost, and to fear the mortal king only as someone subordinate to Hashem. He applies the same term יראה, “fear, awe,” as applicable to man’s relations with higher authority be it celestial or terrestrial. The message is: “just as you must fear the Lord Who is everywhere at all times and you must abstain from sin because you know you are being watched although you cannot see the One Who watches you, so you must be in awe of the terrestrial king even when he is not present seeing he can decree death upon you even when he personally has not seen you sin.” It is simply not possible for a mortal king to be in all parts of his domain all the time. Instead of taking advantage of his temporary absence to violate his laws you must engrave in your heart the appropriate degree of awe and fear to help you not to transgress his laws. Simply remember that this is the way you relate to the supreme authority whom you cannot see but whose eye is upon you all the time.
“Do not associate with the ones who keep changing” This is a warning not to display more fear for the visible terrestrial king (because he is visible) than for the invisible celestial king in the event the decrees of the celestial king and those of the terrestrial king are in conflict with one another. There are many people who are concerned first and foremost with what they perceive to be the danger from the local authority. They fear for their lives perceiving the power of terrestrial authority to be immediate and that of G’d to be relatively remote. Solomon warns against such perceptions and conduct based on such faulty perceptions. Seeing that G’d is not only the ultimate authority of the private citizen but also that of the terrestrial king it would be foolish to be more afraid of mortal kings than of immortal G’d. The reason that Solomon interposed the word בני, “my son,” between the word Hashem and the word king, is to emphasize the difference between the two although he had told you first to relate with “fear” to both of them. If not for this consideration, Solomon should have written: בני ירא את ה' ומלך, as he does in other similar instances when the verse commences with the word בני. The difference between G’d and a mortal king is as great as the difference between day and night.
The basic message of our verse is that fear of the terrestrial authority in the guise of a king is something absolutely necessary as otherwise earth would be in a state of chaos, anarchy. This is also why our sages (Avot 3,2) have instructed us to pray for the well being of the government (any government) as without such a government, i.e. legally appointed authority, the world would revert to tohu vavohu and people would tear each other apart as a daily occurrence.
Nonetheless, the even more important kind of fear without which the terrestrial universe would not endure is the fear vis-a-vis Hashem, the ultimate authority in the universe. The lives of all earthly kings are in His hands and terrestrial power is only delegated power. In order to remind us of all this, Solomon said in Kohelet 8,2: “I counsel you: ‘obey the king’s command and that in the manner of an oath to G’d.’”
Concerning the whole subject of how to relate to imposed authority Solomon means that he views it as important to obey the king’s laws because a king is someone who perceives himself as duty bound to observe the KING’S command. When the terrestrial king fails to honour his king’s laws, i.e. no longer views himself as bound by G’d’s laws, his subjects’ obligation to obey him is no longer valid. Sinaitic law which we accepted by means of a solemn oath precedes and therefore overrides legislation by any terrestrial king.
The Midrash (Vayikra Rabbah 33,6) understands the verse we quoted from Kohelet as follows: “I am obligated to obey the decrees of the Gentile nations who rule over me (Israel in the Diaspora) as far as their imposing taxes, head-duties, etc., is concerned. However, על דברת שבועת אלו-הים, concerning a matter which is an obligation by oath vis-a-vis G’d, I am not required to obey the king’s laws.” This is why we find that Chananyah, Mishael, and Azaryah said to Nevuchadnezzar (Daniel 3,16) “behold we are not concerned about this matter; behold there is a G’d Whom we worship — He is able to save us.” The verse had commenced with: “Shadrach, Mishach, and Abed Nego” (the Chaldaen names of Chanayah, Mishael and Azaryah) answered the king: O Nevuchadnezzar, we are not concerned, etc.” Why would the three men have been described first as answering the “king”, when in the same breath they address him by his title, i.e. as Nevuchadnezzar? Surely either one of these descriptions is enough! The fact is that they meant: “you are indeed the king over us concerning matters of taxes, etc.” But when you presume to command us to worship idols you are overstepping your authority seeing we cannot violate an oath we have taken hundreds of years before you ever were king, i.e. the oath we took at Mount Sinai.” This is the meaning of ועל דברת שבועת אלו-הים in the verse from Proverbs which we quoted at the outset.
It is a well known fact that the whole subject matter of an oath is related to fear of and reverence for the Lord. Man is not supposed to utter the name of the Lord even in an oath which testifies to the truth, much less so in an oath in which he perjures himself by using the name of the Lord. It happened once (Bamidbar Rabbah 22,1) during the reign of King Yannai, that this king who had ten thousand towns under his control lost them all (they were destroyed) due to an oath which was true. How was this possible? A person would say to his friend: “I swear by G’d that I will go to a certain place and eat such and such.” The people in these towns were in the habit of confirming all their intentions by using such a formula involving the name of the Lord. Although these people all lived up to the undertakings they had made, their towns were ruined as they should not have involved the name of the Lord unnecessarily. If this is what happens to people to swear truthfully, we can imagine what must be in store for people who swear falsely. The story teaches how very careful we must be not to render a needless oath. There is no sin as great as that of swearing falsely or merely using the name of the Lord in an unnecessary oath. Seeing that the Torah describes man’s nature as evil from birth (Genesis 8,21) and as a result he tends to be angry a lot, his anger often causes him to swear oaths about what he will not do. The Torah, in its customary manner of providing the remedy before the disease has struck, here introduces the legislation of oaths and vows and how such can be annulled by either one expert or three ordinary adults.