# Of the Office of the Sovereign Representative explained — Leviathan

> Chapter companion for Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes.

## What happens

This chapter defines the sovereign's office as securing the safety of the people, which includes not only preservation but also the lawful pursuit of life's contentments. The sovereign must maintain essential rights of sovereignty, prevent ignorance among subjects, and ensure proper instruction in duties and laws. It also discusses the sovereign's relationship with God, the law of nature, and the importance of teaching justice and obedience.

## Themes in this chapter

### Sovereignty and Absolute Power

The chapter emphasizes the sovereign's absolute authority and the necessity of maintaining essential rights to prevent dissolution of the commonwealth.

### Liberty and Obligation

Discusses the obligation of the sovereign to ensure the safety of the people and the subjects' duty to obey, balanced with the liberty to pursue lawful contentments.

### Religion and Civil Authority

Explores the relationship between divine law and sovereign power, including the role of religious instruction in maintaining civil order.

## Character check-ins

### Jesus Christ

Referenced as the sovereign of sovereigns and in the context of divine authority.

### Moses

Mentioned in relation to the Jewish sabbath and the giving of the law.

### David

Referenced as a king whose actions illustrate sovereign rights.

### Solomon

Mentioned in the context of wisdom and the teaching of justice.

### Joshua

Referenced as a leader who exemplified sovereign authority.

## Key lines

> The office of the sovereign, be it a monarch or an assembly, consisteth in the end for which he was trusted with the sovereign power, namely, the procuration of 'the safety of the people'; to which he is obliged by the law of Nature, and to render an account thereof to God, the author of that law, and to none but Him.

The sovereign's primary duty is to ensure the people's safety, as mandated by natural law, and they are accountable only to God for this task.

_This defines the fundamental purpose and accountability of sovereign power._

> But by safety here, is not meant a bare preservation, but also all other contentments of life, which every man by lawful industry, without danger or hurt to the commonwealth, shall acquire to himself.

Safety includes not just survival but also the ability to pursue lawful pleasures and improvements in life without harming the commonwealth.

_Expands the concept of safety beyond mere physical preservation._

> And because, if the essential rights of sovereignty, specified before in the eighteenth chapter, be taken away, the commonwealth is thereby dissolved, and every man returneth into the condition and calamity of a war with every other man, which is the greatest evil that can happen in this life; it is the office of the sovereign to maintain those rights entire;

If the sovereign's essential rights are removed, the commonwealth collapses into a state of war, the worst possible condition, so the sovereign must preserve these rights completely.

_Highlights the catastrophic consequence of undermining sovereign authority._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/leviathan_se/chapters/xxx-of-the-office-of-the-sovereign-representative
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/leviathan_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/leviathan_se/chapters