Who is Mammon whom Jesus warned of in Sermon of the Mount?
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Before I give my suggested answer I would like to draw your attention to:
1.Mammon is a wrong spelling. The correct spelling is mamon. If you are familiar with Aramaic, it's probably a Greek scribal error of Aramaic: m mon
2.Various bible translations render it either money or gold or riches or wealth or just keep it as it is, mammon , sometimes with capital M and sometimes without( please notice there is no capitalization in the written Semitic languages such as Aramaic, Hebrew and Arabic).
3.It's interesting that Greek manuscripts kept the Aramaic word, written Mamonas, as if though it's a personification.
4.German linguist and theologian Gesenius thinks it is derived from Hebrew word "maṭmon" ("treasure").
I agree with the conclusion that mamon is a transliteration of the Aramaic word mmon and close to Mishnaic Hebrew mmon and both mean wealth (sited in The Economics of Happiness: Building Genuine Wealth).For in Sheḥrī language, (a modern Semitic with no alphabet), related strongly to ancient Aramaic, the word mmol means wealth, usually referring to cattle and she-camels; it's the strongest case for translation Mammon to wealth.
That said, I get the feelings that Jesus Christ is referring to something more than just mere wealth (but not to Shatan, the evil one; he would have certainly said so since the names of the evil one in both Hebrew and Aramaic is not mammon). My theory: he is referring to false gods (wealth, power, influential persons, materiel means and so forth) in which one cling to in their heart (trust) when their heart trust should be solely placed in God (Allaha in Aramaic of Jesus time and today). I am reminded of what is written on the back of USD: in God we trust!
Upvote:7
From Wikipedia
Scholars do not agree about its etymology, but it is theorized that Mammon derives from Late Latin mammon, from Greek "μαμμωνάς", Syriac mámóna ("riches"), Aramaic mamon ("riches, money"), a loanword from Mishnaic Hebrew 'ממון (mmôn) meaning money, wealth, or possessions;[8] although it may also have meant "that in which one trusts".
And Gregory of Nyssa calls Mammon the evil one:
My Brethren, what is the force of these words? It seems to me that the Lord names the evil one in many varying and differing ways according to his evil operations [lit. energies]. Thus, He calls him the "devil" (diabolos-false accuser), "Beelzebub," Mammon," "prince of this world," "man killer," "evil one," "father of lies," and other similar names. Perhaps, then, another name for him is also "temptation" (Gr. peirasmos).
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