The True meaning of Mammon

Category: Religious Resolution
Author: wizanda
Date: 2006/8/6
The word Mammon that Yeshua used, has been wrongly translated.
Keywords: Mammon,Meaning,Truth,Yeshua,Christ

Summary: The word Mammon that Yeshua used, has been wrongly translated.

Another mistranslation by many is that of mammon, mammon should mean idolatry, and when put in the perspective of everything Christ said this makes logical sense. At present many believe it to only mean riches, which doesn't make logical sense within an overall context.
Quote:

Mat 6:24 No one 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. You cannot serve God and mammon.

Here it could mean riches, as he was talking about not needing; yet when you look at what he said in Luke, here is where it shows you exactly what it means. Plus within this it is clear when we follow the 2nd commandment, that there shall be no image of God, so you can't make an idol, and then have no image.
Quote:

Luke 16:9 And I say to you, Make friends by the mammon of unrighteousness for yourselves, so that when you fail, they may receive you into everlasting dwellings.

This is clear, if you exchange the word for either riches or idolaters, you will see it makes more sense, that he meant idolatry or idolaters. If he was meaning riches, it wouldn't make sense, as Yeshua wasn't saying make friends of rich people, when he told us to give wealth to the poor.
Quote:

Luke 16:13 No servant 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. You cannot serve God and mammon.

So what Christ is saying is to serve God and not the ways of idolatry, and that no matter whom you are with, if your heart is set on God make friends of mammon, so you can try and teach them to be good. Then if you have been faithful in this you can be trusted to enter heaven as stated before:
Quote:

Luke 16:11 Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will entrust the true riches to you?

They added riches as this is what mammon is presumed to be, as stated in the Strongs dictionary:
Quote:

Of Chaldee origin (confidence, that is, figuratively wealth, personified); mammonas, that is, avarice (deified): - mammon.

Also in the Thayer's dictionary the same except, this time it says it is an Aramaic word:
Quote:

1) Mammon
2) Treasure
3) Riches (where it is personified and opposed to God)

Most of the dictionaries in fact do the same, a clear example of the blind following the blind.

The best definition of Mammon I've seen is 'that in which you trust', in other words, 'in that which you have faith', thus misplaced faith in objects, shows that it can mean idolatry.
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URL: https://www.wizanda.com/modules/article/view.article.php/c3/41