Mammon is used in the New Testament to describe material wealth or greed. Mammon may refer to: Mammon, the term from the Bible Mammon, a character in Paradise Lost Mammon (Dungeons & Dragons), a demon in the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game Mammon (comics), the antagonist in the Spawn comic book series Mammon, the antagonist from the film Constantine Mammon, the Japanese name for... This article is about the Christian scriptures. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

Definition

Webster (1977) defines 'mammon' as: 1) the false god of riches and avarice. 2) riches regarded as an object of worship and greedy pursuit; wealth as an evil, more or less personified. Winston (1954) defines: 1) wealth, worldly gain; 2) greed for riches; cupidity. Oxford (1992) defines: god of wealth, regarded as evil or immoral; 'those who worship mammon' = greedy people who value money too highly. This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

The word is used in contemporary language with the same meaning in at least Finnish (mammona), Danish (mammon), Hebrew (mamon), Norwegian (mammon[1]) , Polish (mamona), Czech (mamon), Dutch (mammon), Swedish (mammon), and German (Mammon). The Modern Hebrew language is a Semitic language of the Afro-Asiatic language family. ...

Etymology

Mammon is a term that was used to describe riches, avarice, and worldly gain in Biblical literature. It was personified as a false god in the New Testament. The term is often used to refer to excessive materialism or greed as a negative influence. Adjectival forms are mammonish and mammonistic per Winston 1954, Webster's 1977.

Etymologically, the word is assumed to derive from Late Latin 'mammon', from Greek 'μαμωνας', Syrian 'mámóna' (riches), Aramaic 'mamon' (riches), probably from Mishnaic Hebrew 'ממון (mmôn)'. (See refs: Winston 1954, Webster's 1977.)

The Greek word for "Mammon", mamonas, occurs in the Sermon on the Mount (during the discourse on ostentation) and in the parable of the Unjust Steward (Luke 16:9-13). The Authorised Version keeps the Syriac word. John Wycliffe uses "richessis". Other scholars derive Mammon from Phoenician "mommon", benefit.^{[citation needed]} Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Luther Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Archbishop of Canterbury · Catholic Pope Coptic Pope · Ecumenical Patriarch Christianity Portal This box:      The Sermon on the... The discourse on ostentation, Matthew 6, is a section of the Sermon on the Mount, occurring after the antithesis of the Law, but before the discourse on judgementalism, according to the Gospel of Matthew. ... The Parable of the Unjust Steward was a parable told by Jesus in the New Testament Gospel of Luke. ... The Gospel of Luke is the third of the four canonical Gospels of the New Testament, which tell the story of Jesus life, death, and resurrection. ... This page is about the version of the Bible; for the Harvey Danger album, see King James Version (album). ... This does not cite any references or sources. ... Phoenician was a language originally spoken in the coastal region then called PÅ«t in Ancient Egyptian, Canaan in Phoenician, Hebrew and Aramaic, and Phoenicia in Greek and Latin. ...

The term Mammon, personifed as a god of allegiance to avarice, draws from the words Amon, Ammonite(Jordan) and even Amon-Ra (Amen-Ra, Egypt).^{[citation needed]}

Personifications

"No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other; or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You can't serve both God and Mammon" Matthew 6:24 Image File history File links This is an image that originaly appears in Collin de Plancys Dictionnaire Infernal (1863) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Collin de Plancy (1793-1887) was a French occultist, demonologist and writer; he published several works on occultism and demonology. ... The Dictionnaire Infernal is a book on demonology that includes the name and description of the lots of demons the demonology organised in hellish hierarchies. ...

In the Bible, Mammon is personified in Luke 16:13, and Matthew 6:24, the latter verse repeating Luke 16:13. In some translations, Luke 16:9 and Luke 16:11 also personify mammon; but in others, it is translated as 'dishonest wealth' or equivalent. In some Spanish versions, it is said as "Mamón", but in others, as "Dinero" (Spanish for "money").

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" (Serm. on Mt., ii). Gregory of Nyssa also asserted that Mammon was another name for Beelzebub. For the genre of Christian-themed music, see gospel music. ... Didascalia Apostolorum (or just Didascalia) is the tile of a treatise which pretends to have been written by the Apostles at the time of the Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15), but is really a composition of the third century. ... “Augustinus” redirects here. ... Gregory of Nyssa ( 335 – after 394) was a Christian bishop and saint. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ...

During the Middle Ages, Mammon was commonly personified as the demon of avarice, richness and injustice. 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. Nicholas de Lyra (commenting on the passage in Luke) says: "Mammon est nomen daemonis" (Mammon is the name of a demon). The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ... Greed is often associated with death and disease. ... For the business meaning, see Wealth (economics). ... Justice is a concept involving the fair and moral treatment of all persons, especially in law. ... Peter Lombard (c. ... Page from a 14th century Psalter, showing drolleries on the right margin and a plowman at the bottom. ... A page of Genesis in Basel, 1498: the first printed biblical exegesis: space has been left for a hand-lettered red initial (a rubric) that was never added to this copy. ...

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 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. This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Una and the Lion by Briton Rivière The Faerie Queene is an English epic poem by Edmund Spenser, published first in three books in 1590, and later in six books in 1596. ... For other persons named John Milton, see John Milton (disambiguation). ... Title page of the first edition (1667) Paradise Lost is an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton. ... The word occult comes from the Latin occultus (clandestine, hidden, secret), referring to knowledge of the hidden.[1] In the medical sense it is used commonly to refer to a structure or process that is hidden, e. ... Collin de Plancy (1793-1887) was a French occultist, demonologist and writer; he published several works on occultism and demonology. ... The Dictionnaire Infernal is a book on demonology that includes the name and description of the lots of demons the demonology organised in hellish hierarchies. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... The most familiar view of Carlyle is as the bearded sage with a penetrating gaze. ...

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 Greek mythology, Plutus (wealth Πλοῦτος) was a son of Demeter and the Titan Iasion and was the personification and god of wealth and money. ... Dis Pater, or Dispater, was a Roman and Celtic god of the underworld, later subsumed by Pluto or Jupiter. ... The Divine Comedy (Italian: , later christened Divina by Giovanni Boccaccio), written by Dante Alighieri between 1308 and his death in 1321, is widely considered the central epic poem of Italian literature, and is seen as one of the greatest works of world literature. ... Saint Thomas Aquinas, O.P.(also Thomas of Aquin, or Aquino; c. ...

In all Mozilla-based browsers, the Book of Mozilla uses Mammon to refer to Microsoft. Mozilla was the official, public, original name of Mozilla Application Suite by the Mozilla Foundation, nowadays called SeaMonkey suite. ... The Book of Mozilla, 7:15, displayed in Firefox 1. ... Microsoft Corporation, (NASDAQ: MSFT, HKSE: 4338) is a multinational computer technology corporation with global annual revenue of US$44. ...

Variations

• In Spanish culture, where Mammon is not so well known, the image used to criticize the love of wealth is the golden calf^[1], idolized by the Israelites against the will of God.

The culture of Spain has roots in Iberian and Latin influences, Catholicism, Moorish Islam, tension between the centralized Castilian state and its regions, and its minority peoples. ... Adoration of the Golden Calf by Nicolas Poussin: imagery influenced by the Greco-Roman bacchanal In the Hebrew Bible the golden calf was an idol made by Aaron for the Israelites during Mosess unexpectedly long absence. ...

References

1. ^ becerro de oro in the Diccionario de la Real Academia Española.

Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary: Oxford University Press, 1992. The Diccionario de la lengua española de la Real Academia Española or DRAE is the most authoritative dictionary of Castilian Spanish. ...

Webster's Dictionary of the English Language Unabridged: Publishers International Press, New York, 1977.

Winston Dictionary: John C Winston Company, Philadelphia, 1954.

External links

• Catholic Encyclopedia: Mammon
• Jewish Encyclopedia: Mamon
• Encyclopædia Britannica: Mammon