1 Timothy 6:9-10 (Greek): οἱ δὲ βουλόμενοι
πλουτεῖν ἐμπίπτουσιν εἰς πειρασμὸν καὶ παγίδα καὶ ἐπιθυμίας πολλὰς
ἀνοήτους καὶ βλαβεράς, αἵτινες βυθίζουσι τοὺς ἀνθρώπους εἰς ὄλεθρον καὶ
ἀπώλειαν· ῥίζα
γὰρ πάντων τῶν κακῶν ἐστιν ἡ φιλαργυρία, ἧς τινες ὀρεγόμενοι
ἀπεπλανήθησαν ἀπὸ τῆς πίστεως καὶ ἑαυτοὺς περιέπειραν ὀδύναις πολλαῖς.
NET: "Those who long to be rich, however, stumble into temptation and a trap and many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all evils. Some people in reaching for it have strayed from the faith and stabbed themselves with many pains."
ESV: But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of
all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered
away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.
HCSB: "But those who want to be
rich fall into temptation, a trap, and many foolish and harmful desires,
which plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and by craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains."
οἱ δὲ βουλόμενοι
πλουτεῖν-δὲ is probably adversative ("but") and βουλόμενοι is a present participle MP that Paul uses substantivally. Dillon T. Thornton submits that πλουτεῖν (an infinitive) specifies the desire of Pauls opponents. The referents of 1 Timothy 6:9-10 are contrated with the counsel/spirit of 1 Tim. 6:6-8.
βουλόμενοι
might also signify the aim or intent to acquire something, and πλουτεῖν might be an infinitive of purpose. This would affect the thrust of Paul's counsel and to whom it is addressed.
For ἐμπίπτουσιν and βυθίζουσι, cf. 1 Tim. 3:6-7.
Regarding the word φιλαργυρία in the LXX, see 4 Macc. 1:26:
κατὰ μὲν τὴν ψυχὴν ἀλαζονεία, καὶ φιλαργυρία καὶ φιλοδοξία καὶ φιλονικία, ἀπιστία καὶ βασκανία
Cf. 4 Macc. 2:15: καὶ τῶν βιαιοτέρων δὲ παθῶν κρατεῖν ὁ λογισμὸς φαίνεται φιλαρχίας καὶ κενοδοξίας καὶ ἀλαζονείας καὶ μεγαλαυχίας καὶ βασκανίας
A number of commentators take ῥίζα
γὰρ πάντων τῶν κακῶν ἐστιν ἡ φιλαργυρία to be a notable proverb, and the saying also has roots in Jewish writings.
Linda Belleville (Cornerstone Biblical Commentary): “Root” comes first in Greek for emphasis. It denotes the origin or source of evil deeds. The Greek emphasizes “each and every kind of” evil. “Evil” has an article, thereby making the abstract noun concrete. It is “evil acts” or “wrong choices,” rather than evil as an idea or force that is in view. The love of money is, lit., “the love of silver.” Next to gold, silver was the most highly valued metal in the ancient world.
I would add that the "love of money" is a form of greed, and it had already led some first-century Christians astray from the faith.
Sources: Dillon T. Thornton, Hostility in the House of God: An Investigation of the Opponents in 1 and 2 Timothy. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbraun, 2016.
Nathan Nzyoka Joshua, Benefaction and Patronage in Leadership: A Socio-Historical Exegesis of the Pastoral Epistles. Carlisle: Langham Publishing, 2018.
See also https://www.jstor.org/stable/25750745?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents
Sunday, January 17, 2021
1 Timothy 6:9-10 (Analysis)
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4 comments:
Thanks for this Edgar.
I think Paul, in verse 18-19, gives the alternative ... i.e. to be "koinonikous."
In the Hellenistic it's the merchant or manufacturer type who is always looking for more, for accumulation, who have a love of money, which makes them bad rulers (for example see Plato's republic), but at the same time market accumulation is natural in the hellenistic mind.
I think love of money here is not just an attitude, it's a way of being, of living, i.e. living a life of accumulation and gain, in those days that would be how a money lender might be viewed, or a merchant.
In today's Capitalism of course, the entire telos of society is accumulation, such that if one does not serve endless accumulation, one is excluded from the means of life.
So this warning, although one can do one's best to heed it, and one can guard one's heart, is more and more difficult in practice, given the whole structure of society.
Although one can practice koinonikous as best one can.
I agree that 1 Tim. 6:18-19 shows the alternative. Socrates and presumably Plato fought against the tendency to acquire more: Socrates was known for living a simple life in order to debate others about essences and pursue truth.
Love of money is more than an attitude; it's a form of greed and, as such, we find the love of money manifested in actions. I'm sure you also know the Greek word that has been rendered as acquisitiveness or covetousness, that is, pleonexia. Besides the lexical sources used in NT studies, I think Alasdair MacIntyre also has made some insightful comments pertaining to pleonexia. He's written works on justice and virtue theory.
Yes, it is difficult to strike a balance in today's world: give me neither riches nor poverty, but it's sometimes hard for us to distinguish needs and wants. Jehovah knows we're imperfect, yet the warning of Paul reminds us that some in the first century and today have wandered away from the faith to reach out for riches. Most of us in capitalistic societies probably have struggled with pleonexia, but we can resist the tendency with divine help.
I enjoy Alasdair MacIntyre very much, btw, one book I ordered which was highly recommended, and whose author has given great lectures, is "Enchantments of Mammon: How Capitalism became the religion of Modernity" by Eugene McCarraher, who argues against the Webberian notion that the modern world is disenchanted, and against the Marxian notion that Capitalism is a natural progression, and for the notion that Capitalism has turned into a kind of "misenchantment" where money takes on a sacramental function.
Roman, that book by McCarraher sounds interesting. Thanks for mentioning it. Weber's disenchancement idea is often referenced in the humanities and I've discussed it with students before in my classes. I'm not dogmatic about it, but just think it has a measure of truth about it.
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