פירוש על ברכות 33:1

The "household above" is the angelic host whose dissensions lead to quarrels on earth. The "household below" is either mankind generally or the Sages of Israel.

But for the prestige it brings them. Cf. Abot iv. 7: "Make not of the Torah a crown wherewith to aggrandise thyself, nor a spade wherewith to dig. So also used Hillel to say, He who makes a worldly use of the crown of the Torah shall waste away. Hence thou mayest infer that whosoever derives a profit for himself from the words of the Torah is helping on his own destruction." Singer, p. 196. See Schechter, Aspects, pp. 159 ff.