Mammon
MAMMON
A Chaldee word signifying riches. Our Savior says we cannot serve God and Mammon, Mat 6:24 . Wealth is as truly an idol to those who set their hearts on it, as Jupiter or Diana; and no idolater can enter heaven. He also charges us, from the example of the unjust steward, so to use worldly goods, which are generally sought and used sinfully -“the unrighteous mammon” -as to have God the Judge our friend, and receive the true riches in heaven, Luk 16:9,11 .
Fuente: American Tract Society Bible Dictionary
mammon
A word of Semitic origin, probably derived from the word meaning “what is trusted in.” On Saint Augustine’s authority the same name for riches is found in Aramaic, Syriac, Samaritan, and Punic languages. In Matthew 6, and Luke 16, it is personified and opposed to God. The term “mammon of iniquity” (Luke 16) is applied to riches because of their tendency to lead men into sin.
Fuente: New Catholic Dictionary
Mammon
Mamona; the spelling Mammona is contrary to the textual evidence and seems not to occur in printed Bibles till the edition of Elzevir. The derivation of the word is uncertain, perhaps from mmn as seen in mtmwn, though the Targums, which use the word frequently, never regard it as the equivalent of mtmwn, which the Greek always renders thesauroi, cf. Job, iii, 4; Prov., ii, 4. But cf. also Hebrew Ecclus., xlii, 9, bth l’b mtmnt sqr where the margin reads mtmwn, “to the father his daughter is as ill-gotten treasure.” In the New Testament only Matt., vi, 24, and Luke, xvi, 9, 11, 13, the latter verse repeating Matt., vi, 24. In Luke, xvi, 9 and 11 Mammon is personified, hence the prevalent notion, emphasized by Milton, that Mammon was a deity. Nothing definite can be adduced from the Fathers in support of this; most of their expressions which seem to favour it may be easily explained by the personification in Luke; e.g. “Didascalia”, “Do solo Mammona cogitant, quorum Deus est sacculus”; similarly St. Augustine, “Lucrum Punice Mammon dicitur” (Serm. on Mt., ii); St. Jerome in one place goes near to such an identification when (Dial. cum Lucif., 5) he quotes the words: “No man can serve two masters”, and then adds, “What concord hath Christ with Belial?” But in his “Commentary on Matt,” and in Ep. xxii, 31, he lends no countenance to it: “‘Ye cannot serve God and Mammon.’ Riches, that is; for in the heathen tongue of the Syrians riches are called Mammon.” But Mammon was commonly regarded as a deity in the Middle Ages; thus Peter Lombard (II, dist. 6) says, “Riches are called by the name of a devil, namely Mammon, for Mammon is the name of a devil, by which name riches are called according to the Syrian tongue.” Piers Plowman also regards Mammon as a deity.
The expression “Mammon of iniquity” has been diversely explained, it can hardly mean riches ill-gotten, for they should of course be restored. If we accept the derivation from ‘mn we may render it “riches in which men trust”, and it is remarkable that the Sept. of Ps. xxxvii, 3, renders ‘mwgh by plouto, or “riches”, as though hinting at such a derivation. The expression is common in the Targums, where mmwn is often followed by sqr corresponding to the adikias of Luke, thus see on Prov., xv, 27; but it is noteworthy that Ecclus., v, 8 (10, Vulg.) “goods unjustly gotten” chremasin adikois, reads in Hebrew nks-sqr and not mtmwn. For the various explanations given by the Fathers see St. Thomas, II-II, Q. xxxii, a. vii, ad 3um.
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TRENCH, Notes on the Parables of our Lord (15th ed., London, 1886); DALMANN, Die Worte Jesu (tr., Edinburgh, 1902).
HUGH POPE Transcribed by Douglas J. Potter Dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume IXCopyright © 1910 by Robert Appleton CompanyOnline Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. KnightNihil Obstat, October 1, 1910. Remy Lafort, CensorImprimatur. +John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York
Fuente: Catholic Encyclopedia
Mammon
( or , from the Chald. or , that in which one trusts; see Buxtorf, Lex. Chald. col. 1217 sq.), a term pre-eminently, by a technical and invidious usage (see Suidas in his Lex. s.v.), signifying wealth or riches, and bearing that sense in Luk 16:9; Luk 16:11; but also used by our Savior (Mat 6:24; Luk 16:13) as a personification of the god of riches: Ye cannot serve God and Mammon.’ Gill, on Mat 6:24, brings a very apt quotation from the Talmud Hieros. (Yoma, fol. 38), in confirmation of the character which Christ in these passages gives of the Jews in his day: We know that they believed in the law, and took care of the commandments, and of the tithes, and that their whole conversation was good only that they loved the Mammon, and hated one another without cause. The word often occurs in the Chaldee Targums of Onkelos, and later writers, and in the Syriac Version, in the sense of riches.’ This meaning of the word is given by Tertullian, Adv. Marc. 4:33, and by Augustine and Jerome commenting on Matthew. Augustine adds that it was in use as a Punic, and Jerome adds that it was a Syriac word. There is no reason to suppose that any idol received divine honors in the East under this name. It is used in Matthew as a personification of riches. The derivation of the word is discussed by A. Pfeiffer, Opera, p. 474. The phrase mammon of unrighteousness as used in Luk 16:9, probably refers to gain which is too often unjustly acquired (as by the publicans), but which may be sanctified by charity and piety so as to become a passport, in some sense, to final blessedness. See Grunenberg, De mammona iniquitatis (Jen. 1700); Wakins, De . (Jen. 1701). In Rabbinical language the word is used to denote confidence.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Mammon
a Chaldee or Syriac word meaning “wealth” or “riches” (Luke 16:9-11); also, by personification, the god of riches (Matt. 6:24; Luke 16:9-11).
Fuente: Easton’s Bible Dictionary
Mammon
Mat 6:24; Luk 16:9. A Punic (Augustine) or Syriac (Jerome) word for “riches”. Personified as a heart idol.
Fuente: Fausset’s Bible Dictionary
Mammon
MAMMON, or more accurately Mamon, is the transliteration of the Gr. equivalent for a late Aram. Aramaic or Syro-Chald. term denoting wealth or riches or treasure, whose etymology is still a matter of dispute (cf. the articles s.v. in Hasting’s Dictionary of the Bible and Encyc. Bib.). In the Gospels it means worldliness in the form of wealth, and occurs twice(a) in Mat 6:24 = Luk 16:13 (ye cannot serve God and mammon); and (b) in Luk 16:9; Luk 16:11, where it is defined, or rather described, as unrighteous, the latter epithet being applied to it not only in the Targums, but as early as 1Enoch 63:10 (our souls are satisfied with the mammon of unrighteousness, yet for all that we descend into the flame of Sheols pain).
The genuineness of the logion (a) there is no need to question, although its present position is probably due to editorial arrangement. Of the two settings, Matthews seems preferable. Mammon here represents a sort of personified worldliness, a Plutus of the age, and Christ exposes the impossibility of combining devotion to this end with devotion to the true God. The spiritual life, He explains in Mat 6:19-24, must have the two notes of inwardness and unity. Compromise here is out of the question. The object of a mans confidence determines ultimately his character; and single-mindedness is the supreme condition of health and effectiveness in religion. Jesus warns them that it is impossible to be at once high-minded and just and wise, and to comply with the accustomed forms of human society, seek power, wealth, or empire, either from the idolatry of habit, or as the direct instruments of sensual gratification (Shelley). Objection is sometimes taken to this counsel as inapplicable to a group of good disciples. But Jesus had rich people among His adherents, and besides it is not the rich alone who are tempted to make a god of their money. Poor people are just as prone in some ways to attach an exaggerated importance to wealth, to overestimate its power, and thus to let it exercise a control over their desires. No written comment on the verse, however, can equal the impression made by Mr. G. F. Watts picture of Mammon, with its coarse, gross limbs crushing human life; to which one pendant is the same painters picture entitled, For he had great possessions.
The Lukan setting is as apt in its own way, placing the same logion amid a cluster of characteristic (see Theophilus) sayings and parables on the dangers and abuse of money (cf. Luk 16:14). Luk 16:13 forms one of several rather heterogeneous fringes to the parable of the Unjust Steward (Luk 16:1-8 or Luk 16:1-7), arranged with almost as little connexion as the logia in Luk 16:16 f. So far as it stands, however, it has the same meaning as in Mat 6:24. The main difficulty is to correlate it with what immediately precedes, and this opens up the unpersonified use of mammon in the second class of passages (b). The point of Luk 16:1-8, which is certainly a genuine parable of Jesus, is to inculcate the wisdom of making provision in the present life for the life which is to come. The temper commended by Jesus is that of a man who has wit enough to see that his future prospects depend on his present exertions, and who inferentially has no illusions whatever about himself. He is open-eyed to the present situation. He does not flatter himself into a rosy view of his case, or look to some happy chance to bear him through. A prudent regard to self-interest is the saving feature of his character and conduct. So much is clear. The trouble is to adjust Luk 16:9-13 to this standpoint. If, with critics like J. Weiss, Wernle, and Jlicher, all five verses are regarded as editorial glosses, the solution becomes fairly simple, the original parable having nothing to do with the use of money at all, as Christ meant it. But Luk 16:9 may well be the original sequel to Luk 16:8 (so Wellhausen recently), in which case the mammon of unrighteousness there and in Luk 16:11 is explained by what belongs to another in Mat 16:12. Wealth, Jesus teaches, does not really belong to a Christian. It is something alien to him. Yet, as the steward used wealth that was not his own for his own ends, so the Christian can and must employ his wealth in order to promote his eternal interests. Money given in alms makes friends for him in heaven, just as it lays up a treasure for him there (Luk 11:41, Mat 12:23 etc.). Instead of serving God and mammon alike, he is to use mammon wisely in the interests of his relation to God and the heavenly Kingdom, the wisdom consisting in the practice of charity (cf. Mat 12:19 f.). If not, the prospect held out is ominous. God, as Kingsley once said, will yet take account of the selfishness of wealth; and His quarrel has yet to be fought out. This is true to the spirit of the Lukan sayings, except that they threaten an eschatological ruin rather than one wrought out on this side of the grave.
In any case Luk 16:10-13 (Luk 16:10 coming from Luk 19:17) form a conglomerate appendix, added to prevent misconceptions, another instance of editorial solicitude on the part of an Evangelist ever careful to guard the character and teaching of Jesus against misunderstanding (Bruce). Luk 16:11, especially, indicates the right use of money (as in the parable of the Talents): Use it faithfully, i.e. for the good of the needy, instead of hoarding it up selfishly. Honesty in money matters (Luk 16:10) is vital to the Christian. And honesty, in this particular application, is viewed under the light of liberality (Luk 16:11), in accordance with the tenor of Lukes social sympathies throughout his Gospel. Thus the use of mammon brings out two elements in the teaching of Jesus upon money(a) the need of administering it wisely, and (b) the essentially inferior and even irrelevant position of money in the religious life. The latter is brought out by the epithet unrighteous (almost equal to secular here); money is less by far than a Christians other interests (Luk 16:10), alien (Luk 16:12), and unreal (Luk 16:11), even when it is not allowed to be a positive rival to God (Luk 16:13). By its nature it belongs to the present (i.e. this evil) generation, not to the real order of things which forms the sphere of the children of light, i.e. Christians. Yet even so it is a test; it furnishes opportunities for the exercise of certain virtues (cf. Morleys Voltaire, p. 107). Christians are trusted with money, as the steward was. But what in his case was fraud, in their case is both honest and shrewd. Forethought is the quality commended by our Lord, as opposed to a selfish and shortsighted policy. Faithfulness in dealing with money means giving it away. And the two, faithfulness and forethought, are different sides of the same habitpretty much as in the proverb, What I gave, I have (cf. Pro 11:24). The steward dispensed his goods; no doubt, for selfish ends. Still he dispensed them, and so proved his wisdom at least.
On this interpretation the mammon of unrighteousness does not mean money or worldly advantages wrongfully gained, as though the point of the parable were that wealth, dishonestly come by, should be disbursed in charity (so Strauss, and O. Holtzmann in Stades Geschichte Israels, ii. 584585). The steward is not commended because he atoned by beneficence for ill-gotten gains, as if he represented a sinner who insured forgiveness and welcome in heaven by means of charity to his fellows on earth, finding it impossible to restore, as Zacchaeus did, his fraudulent profits (so even Bruce, Parabolic Teaching of Jesus, pp. 373374). The mammon of unrighteousness means money as essentially secular and unchristian (cf. Weinels Wirkungen des Geistes, 1899, p. 15), pertaining to the order of the Evil One. Jesus does not deal here with any question of reparation. The object of the parable is to point out how one may best use this tainted possession in view of the future, and the teaching is on the lines of the later Jewish Rabbis, who attached high religious significance to alms (cf. Luk 12:15-21; Luk 18:22 etc.), though it must be borne in mind that some allowance has to be made for St. Lukes ascetic bias in estimating some of Christs sayings on wealth in the Third Gospel, where logia, perhaps originally genuine, have been sharpened (e.g. in Luk 6:24 f.) into exaggerated emphasis. In calling mammon unrighteous, Jesus means that great wealth is seldom gained or employed without injustice. The stain of abuse is upon it. The mark of the evil world is stamped on it. At best, then, it is a means, not an end, for the Christian, and a means which demands care and conscience for its wise employment, lest life degenerate into the mercenary and narrowing spirit which devotes itself to what Bacon called a Sabbathless pursuit of fortune, a culpable love of acquisition and material goods, and an insidious appetite for self-gratification which deadens the higher faculties of the soul and stunts the instinct of self-sacrifice.
Literature.See the commentators on Matthew and Luke, the various Lives of Jesus, and the current works upon the Parables, in all of which the mammon passages are handled; also Zahns Einleitung, i. 1112. On the parable of the Unjust Steward, cf. the critical discussions of Feine (Eine vorkanon. Ueberlieferung d. Lukas, p. 80 f.), J. Weiss (in Meyers Luke 8, 528535), Schmiedel (Encyc. Bibl. 18631864), and incidentally Rodenbusch (ZNTW [Note: NTW Zeitschrift fr die Neutest. Wissen. schaft.] , 1903, 243 f.). For Christs attitude to wealth, consult H. Holtzmann, Neutest. Theologie, i. p. 448 f.; Titius, Jesu Lehre vom Reiche Gottes, 7279; Pfleiderer, Urchristenthum2 [Note: designates the particular edition of the work referred] , i. p. 649 f.; Keim, Jesus of Nazara, iv. p. 80 f. (extreme); and Peabody, Jesus Christ and the Social Question, p. 244 f. Further discussions on the significance of the parable may be found in Expos. 4th ser. vii. 21 f.; Expos. Times, 19031905, passim; Lathams Pastor Pastorum, p. 386 f.; Expos. 1903, 273283 (Oesterley); and Christliche Welt (xvii. 218227); besides F. W. Robertsons Sermons, iv. (No. 22); J. Martineau, Endeavours after the Chr. Life, p. 76; R. F. Horton, Commandments of Jesus, p. 249. On mammon-worship, see Carlyle, French Revolution (iii. bk. 3, ch. vii.) and Past and Present (bk. 4, ch. iv.); Ruskin, Mornings in Florence, 50; also Morley, Gladstone, iii. p. 548, for modern war as the most remarkable incentive to mammon-worship; Coleridge in his Friend (Essay xvi. written during 1818) said that Luk 16:8 would form a suitable motto for a collection of Machiavellis most weighty aphorisms, by some vigorous mind, in order to illustrate thereby the present triumph of lawless violence as due to the imprudent neglect of such worldly-wise maxims.In Academy (1888), pp. 416417, C. Bezold criticises unfavourably Mr. Pinches derivation of the term from an Assyr. [Note: Assyrian.] mimmu or memmu = anything, everything, property, etc.
J. Moffatt.
Fuente: A Dictionary Of Christ And The Gospels
Mammon
MAMMON.This is a Semitic word, but of doubtful derivation. It has been referred to Heb. aman, a reliable (store), and to taman (t being elided), hidden treasure. Augustine (Serm. on Mount) says it was the name for riches among the Hebrews, and that the Phenician agrees, for gain in Phnician is called mammon. Phnician and Hebrew were near akin, and the ancients often included Aramaic in Hebrew. Mammon is not found in OT Hebrew, but occurs in Rabbinical, in Syriac (Western Aramaic), and is used in the Aramaic Targums as the equivalent of Heb. terms for gain or wealth. Being a well-known Phn. trade word, it is introduced without translation (unlike corban, etc.) into NT Greek, where the right spelling is mamnas (Mat 6:24, Luk 16:9; Luk 16:11; Luk 16:13); with this agrees the Syriac form momna. A Phn. deity, Mamon, has been supposed. Though not improbable, the idea seems due to Milton (P.L. i. 679 ff.). Serve God and mammon suggests personification, but compare the phraseology of Php 3:19.
G. H. Gwilliam.
Fuente: Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible
Mammon
We meet with this word two or three times in the gospel, as used by our Lord Jesus Christ in a figurative manner. Jesus contrasts mammon to God. “Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” (Mat 6:24) “Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness.” (Luk 16:9) It is a Syriac word, and means, perhaps, generally speaking, not gain or riches only, but whatever is in opposition to the Lord. Every corruption of our nature may be called the mammon of unrighteousness, and as such is set forth by it as hostile to a state of grace.
Fuente: The Poor Mans Concordance and Dictionary to the Sacred Scriptures
Mammon
mamun (, Mamonas): A common Aramaic word (, mamon) for riches, used in Mat 6:24 and in Luk 16:9, Luk 16:11, Luk 16:13. In these passages mammon merely means wealth, and is called unrighteous, because the abuse of riches is more frequent than their right use. In Luk 16:13 there is doubtless personification, but there is no proof that there was in New Testament times a Syrian deity called Mammon. The application of the term in Matthew is apparent and requires no comment. In Lk, however, since the statement, Make to yourselves friends out of the mammon of unrighteousness, follows as a comment on the parable of the Unjust Steward, there is danger of the inference that Jesus approved the dishonest conduct of the steward and advised His disciples to imitate his example. On the contrary, the statement is added more as a corrective against this inference than as an application. ‘Do not infer,’ He says, that honesty in the use of money is a matter of indifference. He that is unfaithful in little is unfaithful in much. So if you are not wise in the use of earthly treasure how can you hope to be entrusted with heavenly treasure?’ The commendation is in the matter of foresight, not in the method. The steward tried to serve two masters, his lord and his lord’s creditors, but the thing could not be done, as the sequel shows. Neither can men serve both God and riches exalted as an object of slavish servitude. Wealth, Jesus teaches, does not really belong to men, but as stewards they may use wealth prudently unto their eternal advantage. Instead of serving God and mammon alike we may serve God by the use of wealth, and thus lay up treasures for ourselves in heaven. Again, the parable is not to be interpreted as teaching that the wrong of dishonest gain may be atoned for by charity. Jesus is not dealing with the question of reparation. The object is to point out how one may best use wealth, tainted or otherwise, with a view to the future.
Fuente: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Mammon
Mammon, a Chaldee word signifying ‘wealth’ or ‘riches,’ and bearing that sense in Luk 16:9; Luk 16:11; but also used by our Savior (Mat 6:24; Luk 16:13) as a personification of the god of riches: ‘Ye cannot serve God and Mammon.’
Fuente: Popular Cyclopedia Biblical Literature
Mammon
[Mam’mon]
An Aramaic word signifying ‘riches.’ It is personified as a ‘master’ in Mat 6:24; Luk 16:13; “Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” In Luk 16:9, it is called ‘unrighteous mammon’ (as appertaining to this world in which the rights of God to all have been refused) in opposition to true riches, which appertain to the world to come.
Fuente: Concise Bible Dictionary
Mammon
Wealth.
Mat 6:24; Luk 16:9; Luk 16:11; Luk 16:13 Rich, The; Riches
Fuente: Nave’s Topical Bible
Mammon
Mammon (mm’mon), wealth. A Chaldee or Syriac word used by our Lord in uttering two severe admonitions. In the one. Mat 6:24, he would intend a carnal worldly possession-loving spirit, which unfits a man for the high service of God. In the second place, Luk 16:9; Luk 16:11, mammon is more explicitly wealth, called “mammon of unrighteousness” because it is the substance of a system, an avaricious system, which never could have existed had original righteousness not been lost.
Fuente: People’s Dictionary of the Bible
Mammon
Mammon. (riches). Mat 6:24; Luk 16:9. A word which often occurs in the Chaldee Terguma of Onkelos and later writers, and in the Syriac version, and which signifies “riches”. It is used in St. Matthew as a personification of riches.
Fuente: Smith’s Bible Dictionary
Mammon
a common Aramaic word for “riches,” akin to a Hebrew word signifying “to be firm, steadfast” (whence “Amen”), hence, “that which is to be trusted;” Gesenius regards it as derived from a Heb. word signifying “treasure” (Gen 43:23); it is personified in Mat 6:24; Luk 16:9, Luk 16:11, Luk 16:13.
Fuente: Vine’s Dictionary of New Testament Words
Mammon
a Syriac word which signifies riches, Mat 6:24.