Ecclesiastes Rabbah 8:9

¹“All this I have seen and taken to my heart, for every action that is performed beneath the sun, when man had authority over man, it was to his detriment” (Ecclesiastes 8:9). “All this I have seen…when man had authority over man, it was to his detriment” – there are times when it is to the detriment of the ruler, and there are times when it is to the detriment of the ruled. Rabbi Elazar said: You have one incur liability by means of another only if he is a person of the same stature, as it is stated: “When man had authority [over man].” Rabbi Yonatan said: Even a rod and even a strap incur liability by means of that person, as it is stated: “For the yoke of its burden…like the day of Midian” (Isaiah 9:3); like the day of judgment [ din ]. ). Rabbi Ḥama bar Guryon said: , even non-fruit trees, are destined to give an account and a reckoning. The Rabbis derive it from this [verse]: “For is the tree of a field a man?” (Deuteronomy 20:19) – just as a man is destined to give an account and a reckoning, so too, non-fruit trees are destined to give an account and a reckoning.