5. COVETOUSNESS. LOVE OF MONEY
5. COVETOUSNESS. LOVE OF MONEY
Both and – refer to covetousness, but there appears to be a marked distinction between them. (from and , ‘to have more’) is not confined to money, and is often connected with open wickedness, the force of the word being ‘desiring more (than is necessary),’ and hence ‘an over-reaching to get,’ and is thus applied to the lusts of the flesh, Rom 1:29; Eph 4:19, where it is translated ‘greediness’; Eph 5:3; etc. It is declared to be idolatry, Col 3:5
On the other hand, (from and ) literally ‘love of money,’ is the miser’s sin, and may be indulged in with a profession of religion. Thus in Luk 16:14 it is applied to the Pharisees, and in 2Ti 3:2 to those who had a form of godliness, but denied the power thereof. This love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, 1Ti 6:10, and those who go after it are liable to wander away from the faith, and to pierce themselves through with many sorrows