Kohelet Rabbah 8.9

אֶת כָּל זֶה רָאִיתִי וגו' עֵת אֲשֶׁר שָׁלַט הָאָדָם בְּאָדָם לְרַע לוֹ, עֵת הִיא לְרַע לוֹ לַשּׁוֹלֵט, וְעֵת הִיא לְרַע לוֹ לַנִּשְׁלָט. אָמַר רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר אֵין לְךָ שֶׁהוּא מִתְחַיֵּב עַל יְדֵי אָדָם זֶה אֶלָּא אָדָם כַּיּוֹצֵא בּוֹ, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: עֵת אֲשֶׁר שָׁלַט הָאָדָם. רַבִּי יוֹנָתָן אָמַר וַאֲפִלּוּ בַּמַּקֵל וַאֲפִלּוּ בָּרְצוּעָה מִתְחַיְּבִין עַל יְדֵי אָדָם זֶה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (ישעיה ט, ג): כִּי אֶת עֹל סֻבֳּלוֹ וגו' כְּיוֹם מִדְיָן, כְּיוֹם הַדִּין. אָמַר רַבִּי חָמָא בַּר גּוּרְיוֹן [אפלו זאב] אֲפִלּוּ אִילָנֵי סְרַק עֲתִידִין לִתֵּן דִּין וְחֶשְׁבּוֹן. וְרַבָּנָן מַיְיתִין לָהּ מִן הֲדָא, (דברים כ, יט): כִּי הָאָדָם עֵץ הַשָֹּׂדֶה, מָה הָאָדָם עָתִיד לִתֵּן דִּין וְחֶשְׁבּוֹן, אַף אִילָנֵי סְרַק עֲתִידִין לִתֵּן דִּין וְחֶשְׁבּוֹן.

“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 a wolf>, 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.