MAMMON DEFINITIONS - 14 definitions found
mammon n 1: wealth regarded as an evil influence 2: (New Testament) a personification of wealth and avarice as an evil spirit; "ye cannot serve God and Mammon" Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 11th Edition (2003) mammon noun Usage: often capitalized Etymology: Middle English, from Late Latin mammona, from Greek mamōna, from Aramaic māmōnā riches Date: 15th century material wealth or possessions especially as having a debasing influence <you cannot serve God and mammon — Matthew 6:24 (Revised Standard Version)> • mammonism noun Oxford English Reference Dictionary
Oxford English Reference Dictionary
Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner\'s English Dictionary Mammon You can use Mammon to refer to money and business activities if you want to show your disapproval of people who think that becoming rich is the most important thing in life. It is not every day that one meets a business-person who is not obsessed with Mammon. N-UNCOUNT [disapproval] English Explanatory Dictionary Mammon n. 1 wealth regarded as a god or as an evil influence. 2 the worldly rich. øøMammonish adj. Mammonism n. Mammonist n. Mammonite n. [ME f. LL Mam(m)ona f. Gk mamonas f. Aram. mamon riches: see Matt. 6:24, Luke 16:9-13] The Nuttall Encyclopaedia (1907) Mammon the Syrian god of riches, which has given name to the modern passion for material wealth, specially conceived of as an abnegation of Christianity, the profession of which is in flat antagonism to it. Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) Mammon \Mam"mon\, n. [L. mammona, Gr. ? riches, Syr. mam?n[=a]; cf. Heb. matm?n a hiding place, subterranean storehouse, treasury, fr. t[=a]man to hide.] Riches; wealth; the god of riches; riches, personified. Ye can not serve God and Mammon. --Matt. vi. 24. International Standard Bible Encyclopedia MAMMON mam'-un (Mamonas): A common Aramaic word (mamon) for riches, used in Mt 6:24 and in Lu 16:9,11,13. In these passages mammon merely means wealth, and is called "unrighteous," because the abuse of riches is more frequent than their right use. In Lu 16:13 there is doubtless personification, but there is no proof that there was in New Testament times a Syrian deity called Mammon. The application of the term in Matthew is apparent and requires no comment. In Lk, however, since the statement, "Make to yourselves friends out of the mammon of unrighteousness," follows as a comment on the parable of the Unjust Steward, there is danger of the inference that Jesus approved the dishonest conduct of the steward and advised His disciples to imitate his example. On the contrary, the statement is added more as a corrective against this inference than as an application. `Do not infer,' He says, that honesty in the use of money is a matter of indifference. He that is unfaithful in little is unfaithful in much. So if you are not wise in the use of earthly treasure how can you hope to be entrusted with heavenly treasure?' The commendation is in the matter of foresight, not in the method. The steward tried to serve two masters, his lord and his lord's creditors, but the thing could not be done, as the sequel shows. Neither can men serve both God and riches exalted as an object of slavish servitude. Wealth, Jesus teaches, does not really belong to men, but as stewards they may use wealth prudently unto their eternal advantage. Instead of serving God and mammon alike we may serve God by the use of wealth, and thus lay up treasures for ourselves in heaven. Again, the parable is not to be interpreted as teaching that the wrong of dishonest gain may be atoned for by charity. Jesus is not dealing with the question of reparation. The object is to point out how one may best use wealth, tainted or otherwise, with a view to the future. Russell Benjamin Miller Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary Mammon a Chaldee or Syriac word meaning "wealth" or "riches" (Luke 16:9-11); also, by personification, the god of riches (Matt. 6:24; Luke 16:9-11). Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary (late 1800's) Mammon, riches Soule\'s Dictionary of English Synonyms mammon n. 1. Syrian god of riches. 2. Riches, wealth. Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 63 Moby Thesaurus words for "mammon": affluence, and pence, assets, bottomless purse, bulging purse, cash, circulating medium, coinage, coined liberty, cold cash, currency, dollars, easy circumstances, embarras de richesses, emergency money, filthy lucre, fortune, fractional currency, gold, handsome fortune, hard cash, hard currency, high income, high tax bracket, independence, legal tender, lucre, luxuriousness, managed currency, material wealth, medium of exchange, mintage, money, money to burn, moneybags, necessity money, opulence, opulency, pelf, possessions, postage currency, postal currency, pounds, property, prosperity, prosperousness, riches, richness, scrip, shillings, silver, six-figure income, soft currency, specie, sterling, substance, the almighty dollar, the wherewith, the wherewithal, treasure, upper bracket, wealth, wealthiness |
|
