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Usage: The Hebrew word "הוֹן" (hon) primarily refers to material wealth or possessions. It is often used in the context of abundance and prosperity, signifying the accumulation of goods, money, or resources.
- Wā·Hō·Wn
Englishman's Concordance. wā·hō·wn — 1 Occurrence. Proverbs...
- Wə·Hō·Wn
Englishman's Concordance. wə·hō·wn- — 2 Occurrences....
- La·Hō·Wn
Englishman's Concordance. la·hō·wn — 1 Occurrence. Proverbs...
- Hō·W·Na·Yiḵ
NAS: With the abundance of your wealth and your merchandise...
- Hō·W·Nêḵ
Concordance Entries. Strong's Hebrew 1952 26 Occurrences...
- Hō·W·Nōw
Englishman's Concordance. hō·w·nōw — 1 Occurrence. Proverbs...
- Int
House and wealth are the inheritance of fathers, And from...
- 26 Occurrences
NAS: A rich man's wealth is his strong KJV: The rich man's...
- Wā·Hō·Wn
Mammon (Aramaic: מָמוֹנָא, māmōnā) in the New Testament is commonly thought to mean money, material wealth, or any entity that promises wealth, and is associated with the greedy pursuit of gain.
- Overview
- Etymology
- Mammon in the New Testament
- Evolution of the term
mammon, biblical term for riches, often used to describe the debasing influence of material wealth. The term was used by Jesus in his famous Sermon on the Mount and also appears in The Gospel According to Luke. Medieval writers commonly interpreted it as an evil demon or god. Since the 16th century, mammon has been used to negatively describe the p...
The etymology of the word is somewhat debated by scholars, but it seems to be derived from the Aramaic māmōnā. The word is rendered mamōnas in Greek and mammona in Late Latin and was left untranslated in the Vulgate. In English, mammon was used in the King James Version of the Bible and persisted as a word in other literature, though most modern Bibles variously use “wealth,” “riches,” or “gain.”
It is sometimes argued that the Aramaic word is transliterated from Hebrew, which is not unreasonable given Jesus’ Jewish background. In Mishnaic Hebrew the word mihamon is a contraction of mi, meaning “from,” and hāmōn, meaning “accumulation,” and connotes wealth or money. This word is used neutrally in the Hebrew Bible as the equivalent to gain and is found in the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Talmud.
There are two passages in the New Testament that use mamōnas. The most famous is part of the Sermon on the Mount from Matthew 6:24 (King James Version), in which Jesus asserts, “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.” A similar, longer passage is found in Luke 16:9–13 (King James Version), which states,
And I say unto you, make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations. He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man’s, who shall give you that which is your own? 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. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
In both Gospels the term is associated with unrighteousness and represents something that is at odds with service to God. Given that both passages are contextualized within a discussion of one’s treasures in heaven, the word is usually understood as the acquisition of material wealth or the idolatry of material riches.
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Over time, the somewhat abstract concept of mammon became more fully personified in art and literature. Some scholars, such as St. Gregory of Nyssa, St. John Chrysostom, and Peter Lombard, understood Mammon to be a demon. Medieval theologians assigned seven archdemons to the seven deadly sins, and Mammon became the demon of greed. Similarly, Mammon...
- Melissa Petruzzello
Feb 23, 2022 · What is Mammon? The term mammon stems from the Greek word mammonas and related root words appear in Hebrew, Latin, and Aramaic. In short, mammon can be defined as "earthly goods; property; riches."
Mammon is an Aramaic word that refers to possessions like money, wealth, and property. In Matthew 6:24, Jesus depicts mammon as a kind of superhuman, burdensome ruler that is in competition with God. Both Jesus and the Hebrew Bible describe wealth as a power that lures humans with false promises of security and prevents them from full devotion ...
Feb 5, 2020 · I was reading the works of Rabbi Samson Hirsch this morning and ran across a beautiful example of the multilayered depth of meaning in the Hebrew in Psalms 37:16. Different translations translate the word riches or mahamon differently but all related to the basic Semitic root hama.
In Matthew 6:19-34, Jesus focuses specifically on wealth and possessions. He opens with three statements about the difference between generosity and stinginess. In the second half of this section (vs. 25-34), Jesus gives two analogies that demonstrate God’s endless, abundant generosity.
