Mammon , in the New Testament of the Bible, is material wealth or greed, most often personified
as a deity, and sometimes included in the seven princes of Hell.
Etymology Scholars do not agree about its etymology,
but it is theorized that Mammon derives from Late Latin mammon, from Greek "μαμμωνάς",
Syriac mámóna, Aramaic mamon, a loanword from Mishnaic Hebrew 'ממון meaning money,
wealth, or possessions; although it may also have meant "that in which one trusts".
The Greek word for "Mammon", μαμμωνάς, occurs in the Sermon on the Mount and in the
parable of the Unjust Steward.
The Authorised Version keeps the Syriac word; John Wycliffe uses richessis.
Christians began to use the name of Mammon as a pejorative, a term that was used to describe
gluttony and unjust worldly gain in Biblical literature.
It was personified as a false god in the New Testament.
{Mt.6.24; Lk.16.13} The term is often used to refer to excessive materialism or greed
as a negative influence.
The Revised Standard Version of the Bible explains "mammon is a Semitic word for money
or riches."
The International Children's Bible uses the wording, "You cannot serve God and money at
the same time."
Personifications
"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
In the Bible, Mammon is personified in Luke 16:13, and Matthew 6:24, the latter verse
repeating Luke 16:13.
In the Greek, Luke 16:9, and Luke 16:11 also personify Mammon.
Early mentions of Mammon appear to stem from the personification in the Gospels, e.g.,
Didascalia, "Do solo Mammona cogitant, quorum Deus est sacculus"; and Saint Augustine, "Lucrum
Punice Mammon dicitur".
Gregory of Nyssa also asserted that Mammon was another name for Beelzebub.
During the Middle Ages, Mammon was commonly personified as the demon of wealth and greed.
Thus Peter Lombard 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.
Nicholas de Lyra says: "Mammon est nomen daemonis".
Albert Barnes in his Notes on the New Testament states that Mammon was a Syriac word for an
idol worshipped as the god of riches, similar to Plutus among the Greeks, but he cited no
authority for the statement.
No trace, however, of any Syriac god of such a name exists, and the common literary identification
of the name with a god of covetousness or avarice likely stems from Spenser's The Faerie
Queene, where Mammon oversees a cave of worldly wealth.
Milton's Paradise Lost describes a fallen angel who values earthly treasure over all
other things.
Later occultist writings such as Jacques Collin de Plancy's Dictionnaire Infernal describe
Mammon as Hell's ambassador to England.
For Thomas Carlyle in Past and Present, the 'Gospel of Mammonism' became simply a metaphoric
personification for the materialist spirit of the nineteenth century.
Mammon is somewhat similar to the Greek god Plutus, and the Roman Dis Pater, in his description,
and it is likely that he was at some point based on them; especially since Plutus appears
in The Divine Comedy as a wolf-like demon of wealth, wolves being associated with greed
in the Middle Ages.
Thomas Aquinas metaphorically described the sin of Avarice as "Mammon being carried up
from Hell by a wolf, coming to inflame the human heart with Greed".
In various countries "Mamona" is a synonym for mammon in Slavic
countries.
Currently, the word "mamona" is used figuratively and derogatorily in the Polish language as
a synonym to money.
This, however, has biblical origins; see above.
The word "mammona" is quite often used in the Finnish and Estonian languages as a synonym
of material wealth.
In German, the word "Mammon" is a colloquial term for "money".
In Arabic, the word amaana means a "financial or material trust held for someone else".
Its triliteral root is /aleph – mim – nun/ and so it is likely a cognate with Syriac
mámóna.
Sumerian, however, is not a Semitic language, although it was supplanted by Akkadian, which
is a Semitic language.
In the Quran, a character named Haman is mentioned along with the name "Pharaoh" on six occasions
in two Surahs, 28:6; 28:8; 28:38; 29:39; 40:34; and 40:36.
Muslim tradition identifies this Haman as a person of incredible wealth.
In popular culture
Various characters and demons are named Mammon in books, film, TV, anime, and video games.
See also Asceticism
Christian demons in popular culture Christian views on poverty and wealth
Evangelical counsels Jewish views of poverty, wealth and charity
Prosperity theology Seven deadly sins
Vow of poverty References
External links Catholic Encyclopedia: Mammon
Jewish Encyclopedia: Mamon Encyclopædia Britannica: Mammon