Kings and Saints and Judgement

Καὶ νῦν, Βασιλεῖς, σύνετε, παιδεύθητε, πάντες οἱ κρίνοντες τὴν γὴν, κ. τ. ἑ.  Οὐκ ἀλλότριον μὲν τῆς χρηστότητος τοῦ Σωτῆρος τὸ τοῖς παραστᾶσι Βασιλεῦσι τῆς γῆς μετὰ τῶν ἀρχόντων τῶν συναχθέντων κατ' αὐτοῦ λέγειν τὸ, 'Καὶ νῦν, Βασιλεῖς, σύνετε,' εί γὰρ καὶ πρότερον ἀγνοήσαντες ἐπεβουλεύσατε, ἀλλὰ νῦν συνέντες μετανοήσατε. Τῳ δὲ μὴ προσεῖσθαι τὸ 'τῆς γῆς' μήποτε 'βασιλεὺς” τοὺς ἀγίους φησιν· κυρίως γὰρ βασιλεὺς ὁ ἄρχειν ἐπιστάμενος ἀνυπευθύνως. Πῶς δὲ οὐ βασιλεῦς ὁ κληρονομῶν βασιλείαν οὐρανῶν, καὶ ἐσόμενος ἐν βασιλείᾳ τοῦ Θεοῦ; Καὶ δεῖ γε τὸν ἄγιον, ἀγωνιζόμενον βασιλεύειν, ἄρξασθαι ἀφ' αὐτοῦ καὶ τῶν ἰδίων κινημάτων. Τούτων γὰρ πρότερον βασιλεῦσαι δεῖ, μηκέτι βασιλευόμενον ὑπὸ τῆς ἁμαρτίας τῆς μεμελετηκυίας βασιλεύειν ἐν τῷ θνητῷ ἡμῶν σώματι. Δοκεῖ δὲ το, 'ἐπιστημώθητε,' ὡς Ἀκύλας ἐκδέδωκεν, ἐμφατικώτερον εἶναι τοῦ 'σύνετε,' προστάσσον ἐπιστήμην ἀναλαβεῖν οἰκείαν οὖσαν οὐκ ἄλλῳ τῳ ἤ τοῖς βασιλεῦσι· 'Παιδεύθητε, πάντες οἱ κρίνοντες τὴν γῆν.' Ὅν τρόπον διχῶς ἐξεδεξάμεθα τοὺς βασιλεῖς, οὕτως καὶ τοὺς κρίνοντας τὴν γῆν νοῆσαι ἡμᾶς δυνατόν. Ἥ γὰρ  οἱ ἀρχοντες οἱ συναχθέντες ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ κατὰ τοῦ Κυρίοῦ καὶ κατὰ τοῦ Χριστοῦ αὐτοῠ κρίνοντες λέγοιντο ἂν τὴν γὴν, οἰκείου τοῖς ἄρχουσιν ἔργου τυγχάνοντος τοῦ κρίνειν· ἢ κρίνοντες τὴν γὴν οἱ ἄγιοι, ὡς δείξομεν. Εἰς Ψαλμους, Ψαλμος Β', Ὠριγεν

'And now kings understand, be educated, all you who judge the earth, etc,' 1 It is not strange on account of the goodness of the Saviour that he says to the princes and kings of the earth who stood against him, ' And now kings, understand,' that is, before in ignorance you acted maliciously against me but  now repentant be prudent. But because earlier the words were 'kings of the earth' 2  perhaps we should understand here by the name of kings saints. For certainly a king is he who knows how to rule without flaw. How shall he not be a king who shall inherit the kingdom of heaven and whose future is in the kingdom of God? And it should be that a holy man is one who knows how to reign being in command of his own affections. For these cannot rule until they have taken care to rule over the sin that was ruling our mortal body. And it may be that in this line rather than 'understand' the word 'know' should be read, as Aquila translated it, which has greater emphasis, for such knowledge certainly should be commanded to kings which is so important to them. 'Learn all you who judge the earth.' Now as we accept two types of kings, so we are able to understand those who judge the earth. For there are the princes gathered as one against the Lord and against his anointed,2 whom one may say judge the earth, for it is the proper work of princes to judge, and then those who judge the world are the saints, as we have shown. Origen,On the Psalms, Psalm 2 1 Ps 2.10 2 Ps 2.2