page_title: Mammon
section_title: Etymology
hierarchical_section_title: Mammon / Etymology
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Mammon. Illustration du Dictionnaire infernal de Jacques Auguste Simon Collin de Plancy par Louis Le Breton, 6eme édition, 1863.
context_page_description: Mammon in the New Testament of the Bible is commonly thought to mean money, material wealth, or any entity that promises wealth, and is associated with the greedy pursuit of gain. The Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke both quote Jesus using the word in a phrase often rendered in English as "You cannot serve both God and mammon."
  In the Middle Ages it was often personified and sometimes included in the seven princes of Hell.
  Mammon in Hebrew means "money". The word was adopted to modern Hebrew to mean wealth.
context_section_description: The word Mammon comes into English from post-classical Latin mammona 'wealth', used most importantly in the Vulgate Bible (along with Tertullian's mammonas and pseudo-Jerome's mammon). This was in turn borrowed from Hellenistic Greek μαμωνᾶς, which appears in the New Testament, borrowed from Aramaic מָמוֹנָא  māmōnā, an emphatic form of the word māmōn 'wealth, profit', perhaps specifically from the Syriac dialect. The spelling μαμμωνᾷ refers to "a Syrian deity, god of riches; Hence riches, wealth"; μαμωνᾶς is transliterated from Aramaic [ממון] and also means "wealth."  However, it is not clear what the earlier history of the Aramaic form is. The word may have been present throughout the Canaanite languages: the word is unknown in Old Testament Hebrew, but has been found in the Qumran documents; post-biblical Hebrew attests to māmōn; and, according to St Augustine of Hippo, Punic included the word mammon 'profit'. It has been suggested that the Aramaic word māmōn was a loanword from Mishnaic Hebrew ממון (mamôn) meaning money, wealth, or possessions; although it may also have meant "that in which one trusts". 
  According to the Textus Receptus of the New Testament, the Greek word translated "Mammon" is spelled μαμμωνᾷ in the Sermon on the Mount at Matt. 6:24, and μαμωνᾶ (from μαμωνᾶς) in the Parable of the Unjust Steward at Luke 16:9,11,13. The 27th edition of the popular Critical Text of the New Testament has μαμωνᾶ in all four places with no indication of any textual variances, thereby ignoring the Textus Receptus reading at Matt. 6:24. The Liddell and Scott Lexicon has a listing for each spelling, indicating that each occurs only in the New Testament, nowhere else in ancient and Hellenistic Greek literature. The spelling μαμμωνᾷ refers to "a Syrian deity, god of riches; Hence riches, wealth"; μαμωνᾶς is transliterated from Aramaic [ממון] and also means "wealth." The Authorised Version uses "Mammon" for both Greek spellings; John Wycliffe uses richessis.
  The Revised Standard Version of the Bible explains it as "a Semitic word for money or riches". The International Children's Bible (ICB) uses the wording "You cannot serve God and money at the same time".
  Christians began to use mammon as a pejorative, a term that was used to describe gluttony, excessive materialism, greed, and unjust worldly gain.
  Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
  — Matthew 6:19–21, 24 (KJV)
  Early mentions of mammon allude to the Gospels, e.g., Didascalia, "De solo Mammona cogitant, quorum Deus est sacculus"; and Saint Augustine, "Lucrum Punice Mammon dicitur" (Serm. on Mt., ii).
caption: Mammon from Collin de Plancy's Dictionnaire Infernal
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