Blessed art thou, O land, when thy king is the son of nobles, and thy princes eat in due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness!

Blessed is the land, whose king is noble, and whose princes eat in due season for refreshment, and not for riotousness.

Happy art thou, O land, When thy king is a son of freemen, And thy princes do eat in due season, For might, and not for drunkenness.

Happy is the land whose ruler is of noble birth, and whose chiefs take food at the right time, for strength and not for feasting.

Happy art thou, O land, when thy king is a free man, And thy princes eat in due season, In strength, and not in drunkenness!

Blessed is the land whose king is noble, and whose princes eat at the proper time, for refreshment and not for self-indulgence.

Son of nobles - i. e., of a noble disposition.

When thy king is the son of nobles - uiov eleuyerwn, the son of freemen; persons well acquainted with the principles of civil liberty, and who rule according to them - Septuagint. Such a one as comes to the throne in a legitimate way, from an ancient regal family, whose right to the throne is incontestable. It requires such a long time to establish a regal right, that the state is in continual danger from pretenders and usurpers, where the king is not the son of nobles.
And thy princes eat in due season - All persons in places of trust for the public weal, from the king to the lowest public functionary, should know, that the public are exceedingly scandalized at repeated accounts of entertainments, where irregularity prevails, much money is expended, and no good done. These things are drawn into precedent, and quoted to countenance debauch in the inferior classes. The natural division of the day for necessary repasts is, Breakfast, eight, or half after; Dinner, one, or half after; Supper, eight, or half after. And these, or even earliers hours were formerly observed in these countries. Then we had scarcely any such thing as gout, and no nervous disorders.
In ancient nations the custom was to eat but once, and then about mid-day.

Blessed [art] thou, O land, when thy king [is] the son (k) of nobles, and thy princes eat in due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness!
(k) Meaning, when he is noble for virtue and wisdom and with the gifts of God.

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. Now a land is happy when it is governed by a king that is not only descended from a race of heroes and illustrious men, and has a princely and liberal education; but that imitates his ancestors, and treads in their steps, and is famous himself for wisdom, virtue, and real piety, in which true nobility consists; and so the Vulgate Latin version renders it, "whose king is noble"; who is of an ingenuous mind, has princely virtues and qualifications; who is wise and prudent, skilful in the affairs of government, and assiduous and industrious therein; for as, on the one hand, kings may, as they commonly do, descend from illustrious progenitors, and yet be base and wicked, ignoble and infamous, in their administration; and, on the other hand, persons may be raised from a low estate to royal dignity, as David and others, and yet behave with great prudence and ingenuity. The Targum applies this to the land of Israel also, and instances in Hezekiah, a man mighty in the law;
and thy princes eat in due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness; that is, eat their meals at proper times, and that after they have been at business; to refresh nature, and recruit their strength, that they may be fit for further service; and do not indulge themselves, and spend their time, in rioting and drunkenness; which would render them very unfit for public business, to sit in council, or in any court of judicature: according to the Targum, the time was four o'clock, that is, ten o'clock in the morning. Or, "not unto drinking" or "drunkenness" (a); they do not eat so as to cause an appetite, or eager desire for drinking to excess: or, not "with drinking" (b); their eating is not attended with excessive drinking; they eat and drink moderately. The Egyptians had a law, which fixed such a measure of wine to be allowed their kings daily, and no more (c); and it was Solon's law, given to the Athenians, that if a prince was found drunk, death was his punishment (d); and, with the Indians, if a woman killed a drunken king, her reward was to marry his successor (e): all which show how odious drunkenness was with the Heathens, and especially in their kings and princes; see Proverbs 31:4. So Plato observes (f), that
"drunkenness ought to be abstained from; and rather it should be allowed to any than to a keeper, (that is, of a city and its laws, a Civil magistrate), for it would be ridiculous for a keeper to need a keeper.''
Jerom, as before observed, interprets this figuratively, "blessed is the land", of the church; whose "King" is Christ, the son of nobles, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and whose "princes" are the apostles, who seek not pleasure in this world, but shall eat in the world to come.
(z) "heroum", Montanus. (a) non "autem ad compotationem", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Drusius, Gejerus, Rambachius; so Broughton. (b) "Non cum ingurgitatione", Cocceius; "non eum compotatione", Schmidt. (c) Plutarch. de Iside & Osir. "in principio". Vid. Alex. ab Alex. Genial. Dier. l. 3. c. 11. (d) Laert. Vit. Solon. p. 38. (e) Strabo. Geograph. l. 15. p. 488. (f) De Republic. l. 3. p. 621.

son of nobles--not merely in blood, but in virtue, the true nobility (Song 7:1; Isaiah 32:5, Isaiah 32:8).
in due season-- (Ecclesiastes 3:1), not until duty has first been attended to.
for strength--to refresh the body, not for revelry (included in "drunkenness").

Nobles - Not so much by birth, as by their noble dispositions.