Jean Domat was a well-known French jurist in the mid 1600s under the rule of Louis XIV,
the king who fully achieved royal absolutism. In his treatise, Public Law, Domat made it
his life’s mission to explain the theory behind this absolutism by placing French law and
social structure into the bigger picture of the law of nature and the law of G-d. He begins
by saying that all men are equal by nature; however, people are differentiated by factors
that make their status unequal. One such distinction is the variety of different employments
needed by society. G-d has differentiated people’s status because in order to survive, one
must depend on another. It is through these interdependent employments that the ties
binding human society are created. Therefore, a government is needed to act as a head to
unite and rule the body of the society formed by these various employments. Another
reason a government is necessary is to repress those who will not perform their duties and
thus maintain order in society. G-d decides the differences between men according to His
will and because He is the only “natural sovereign” of the people, it is from G-d that the
government derives their power and it is He who is represented through the government.
Since government is crucial for the public good, and G-d Himself has established it,
therefore it is vital for those who are subject to government, to be submissive and obedient.
Being that the sovereign comes directly from G-d, he justifiably has the right to rule the
