Happy are you, O land, when your king is the son of the nobility, and your princes feast at the proper time, for strength, and not for drunkenness!
Solomon here observes, I. How much the happiness of a land depends upon the character of its rulers; it is well or ill with the people according as the princes are good or bad. 1. The people cannot be happy when their princes are childish and voluptuous (Ecc 10:16): Woe unto thee, O land!
Commenting on Ecclesiastes 10:16-20
Blessed art thou, O land, when thy king is the son of nobles,.... Or "heroes" (z), called "Hhorim" in the Hebrew, which signifies "white"; either from the white garment they wore, or rather from the purity and ingenuity of their minds and manners; being illustrious persons, not only by birth and education, but in their lives and actions.
son of nobles--not merely in blood, but in virtue, the true nobility (Sol 7:1; Isa 32:5, Isa 32:8). in due season-- (Ecc 3:1), not until duty has first been attended to. for strength--to refresh the body, not for revelry (included in "drunkenness").