Mammon (

Aramaic Aramaic (; ) is a Northwest Semitic language that originated in the ancient region of Syria and quickly spread to Mesopotamia, the southern Levant, Sinai, southeastern Anatolia, and Eastern Arabia, where it has been continually written a ...

: מָמוֹנָא, māmōnā) in the

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

is commonly thought to mean money, material

wealth Wealth is the abundance of valuable financial assets or physical possessions which can be converted into a form that can be used for transactions. This includes the core meaning as held in the originating Old English word , which is from an ...

, or any entity that promises wealth, and is associated with the greedy pursuit of gain. The

Gospel of Matthew The Gospel of Matthew is the first book of the New Testament of the Bible and one of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells the story of who the author believes is Israel's messiah (Christ (title), Christ), Jesus, resurrection of Jesus, his res ...

and the

Gospel of Luke The Gospel of Luke is the third of the New Testament's four canonical Gospels. It tells of the origins, Nativity of Jesus, birth, Ministry of Jesus, ministry, Crucifixion of Jesus, death, Resurrection of Jesus, resurrection, and Ascension of ...

both quote

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

using the word in a phrase often rendered in English as "You cannot serve both God and mammon." In the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, it was often personified and sometimes included in the

seven princes of Hell There have been various attempts at the classification of demons within the contexts of classical mythology, demonology, occultism, and Renaissance magic. These classifications may be for purposes of traditional medicine, exorcisms, ceremonial m ...

. ''Mammon'' in

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

(ממון) means 'money'. The word was adopted to

modern Hebrew Modern Hebrew (, or ), also known as Israeli Hebrew or simply Hebrew, is the Standard language, standard form of the Hebrew language spoken today. It is the only surviving Canaanite language, as well as one of the List of languages by first w ...

to mean wealth.

Etymology

The word ''Mammon'' comes into English from post-classical Latin ''mammona'' 'wealth', used most importantly in the Vulgate Bible (along with Tertullian's ''mammonas'' and pseudo-Jerome's ''mammon''). This was in turn borrowed from

Hellenistic Greek Koine Greek (, ), also variously known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek, Septuagint Greek or New Testament Greek, was the common supra-regional form of Greek spoken and written during the Hellenistic ...

μαμωνᾶς, which appears in the

, borrowed from Aramaic מָמוֹנָא ''māmōnā'', an emphatic form of the word ''māmōn'' 'wealth, profit',"Mammon, n." OED Online. Oxford University Press, June 2016. Web. 3 September 2016. perhaps specifically from the Syriac dialect. The spelling μαμμωνᾷ refers to "a Syrian deity, god of riches; Hence riches, wealth"; μαμωνᾶς is transliterated from Aramaic �מוןand also means "wealth".''Webster's Dictionary of the English Language Unabridged'': Publishers International Press, New York, 1977. However, it is not clear what the earlier history of the Aramaic form was.Hastings, James, ed.; New York, Scribners, 1908–1921
''Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics''
Volume 8:374 The word may have been present throughout the

Canaanite languages The Canaanite languages, sometimes referred to as Canaanite dialects, are one of four subgroups of the Northwest Semitic languages. The others are Aramaic and the now-extinct Ugaritic and Amorite language. These closely related languages origin ...

: the word is unknown in Old Testament Hebrew, but has been found in the Qumran documents; post-biblical Hebrew attests to ''māmōn''; and, according to

Augustine of Hippo Augustine of Hippo ( , ; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings deeply influenced the development of Western philosop ...

, Punic included the word ''mammon'' 'profit'. It has been suggested that the Aramaic word ''māmōn'' was a

loanword A loanword (also a loan word, loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language (the recipient or target language), through the process of borrowing. Borrowing is a metaphorical term t ...

from

Mishnaic Hebrew Mishnaic Hebrew () is the Hebrew language used in Talmudic texts. Mishnaic Hebrew can be sub-divided into Mishnaic Hebrew proper (c. 1–200 CE, also called Tannaim, Tannaitic Hebrew, Early Rabbinic Hebrew, or Mishnah, Mishnaic Hebrew I), which w ...

ממון (mamôn) meaning money, wealth, or possessions; although it may also have meant "that in which one trusts". According to the

Textus Receptus The (Latin for 'received text') is the succession of printed Greek New Testament texts starting with Erasmus' ''Novum Instrumentum omne'' (1516) and including the editions of Robert Estienne, Stephanus, Theodore Beza, Beza, the House of Elzevir ...

of the New Testament,
(07 Jan 2025) the Greek word translated "Mammon" is spelt in the dative case as �ὐ δύνασθε θεῷ δουλεύειν καὶμαμμωνᾷ in the

Sermon on the Mount The Sermon on the Mount ( anglicized from the Matthean Vulgate Latin section title: ) is a collection of sayings spoken by Jesus of Nazareth found in the Gospel of Matthew (chapters 5, 6, and 7). that emphasizes his moral teachings. It is th ...

at Matthew 6:24, while in the Parable of the Unjust Steward at Luke 16, it appears respectively as ��κ τοῦμαμωνᾶ (genitive case) in verse 9, ��ν τῷ ἀδίκῳμαμωνᾷ (dative case) in verse 11, and �ὐ δύνασθε θεῷ δουλεύειν καὶμαμωνᾷ (dative case) in verse 13. The 28th edition of the popular Critical Text of the New TestamentNestle-Aland, Novum Testamentum Graece, 28., revised ed., edited by Barbara and Kurt Aland, Johannes Karavidopoulos, Carlo M. Martini and Bruce M. Metzger together with the Institut für Neutestamentliche Textforschung, Münster, Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, 2012 has the same readings as the TR, except in Matthew: μαμωνᾷ. The LSJLiddell, Henry George, Robert Scott, and Henry Stuart Jones. A Greek-English Lexicon. 9th ed. with revised supplement. Oxford: Clarendon, 1996 has a listing for only ominative:μαμωνᾶς, enitive ending:ᾶ, with entry "wealth. Ev.Luc 16.9, al. (Aramaic word)," without any entry for the -μμ- form. The Authorised Version uses "Mammon" for both Greek spellings;

John Wycliffe John Wycliffe (; also spelled Wyclif, Wickliffe, and other variants; 1328 – 31 December 1384) was an English scholastic philosopher, Christianity, Christian reformer, Catholic priest, and a theology professor at the University of Oxfor ...

uses ''richessis''. The

Revised Standard Version The Revised Standard Version (RSV) is an English translation of the Bible published in 1952 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. This translation is a revision of the American St ...

of the Bible says it is "a Semitic word for

money Money is any item or verifiable record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts, such as taxes, in a particular country or socio-economic context. The primary functions which distinguish money are: m ...

or riches". The International Children's Bible (ICB) uses the wording "You cannot serve God and money at the same time". Christians began to use "mammon" as a term that was used to describe gluttony, excessive materialism, greed, and unjust worldly gain. Ill dict infernal p0455 mammon

Early mentions of Mammon allude to the

Gospels Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the second century AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message was reported. In this sen ...

, e.g., '' Didascalia'', "''De solo Mammona cogitant, quorum Deus est sacculus''" (lit. ''They think only of Mammon, whose God is the purse''); and

Saint Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a theologian and philosopher of Berbers, Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia (Roman province), Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings deeply influenced th ...

, "''Lucrum Punice Mammon dicitur''" (lit. "''Riches is called Mammon by the Phoenicians''" (Sermon on the Mount, ii).

Personifications

Gregory of Nyssa Gregory of Nyssa, also known as Gregory Nyssen ( or Γρηγόριος Νυσσηνός; c. 335 – c. 394), was an early Roman Christian prelate who served as Bishop of Nyssa from 372 to 376 and from 378 until his death in 394. He is ve ...

also asserted that Mammon was another name for

Beelzebub Ba'al Zabub , Ba'al Zvuv or Beelzebub ( ; ''Baʿal-zəḇūḇ''), also spelled Beelzebul or Belzebuth, and occasionally known as the Lord of the Flies, is a name derived from a Philistine god, formerly worshipped in Ekron, and later adopted ...

. In the 4th century

Cyprian Cyprian (; ; to 14 September 258 AD''The Liturgy of the Hours according to the Roman Rite: Vol. IV.'' New York: Catholic Book Publishing Company, 1975. p. 1406.) was a bishop of Carthage and an early Christian writer of Berbers, Berber descent, ...

and

Jerome Jerome (; ; ; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was an early Christian presbyter, priest, Confessor of the Faith, confessor, theologian, translator, and historian; he is commonly known as Saint Jerome. He is best known ...

relate Mammon to greed and greed as an evil master that enslaves, and

John Chrysostom John Chrysostom (; ; – 14 September 407) was an important Church Father who served as archbishop of Constantinople. He is known for his preaching and public speaking, his denunciation of abuse of authority by both ecclesiastical and p ...

even personifies Mammon as greed. During the

, Mammon was commonly personified as the demon of wealth and greed. Thus

Peter Lombard Peter Lombard (also Peter the Lombard, Pierre Lombard or Petrus Lombardus; 1096 – 21/22 August 1160) was an Italian scholasticism, scholastic theologian, Bishop of Paris, and author of ''Sentences, Four Books of Sentences'' which became the s ...

(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 ''Piers Plowman'' (written 1370–86; possibly ) or ''Visio Willelmi de Petro Ploughman'' (''William's Vision of Piers Plowman'') is a Middle English allegorical narrative poem by William Langland. It is written in un-rhymed, alliterative ...

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). Albert Barnes in his ''Notes on the New Testament'' states that Mammon was a Syriac word for an idol worshipped as the god of riches, similar to Plutus among the Greeks, but he cited no authority for the statement. 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 ''The Faerie Queene'' is an English epic poem by Edmund Spenser. Books IIII were first published in 1590, then republished in 1596 together with books IVVI. ''The Faerie Queene'' is notable for its form: at over 36,000 lines and over 4,000 sta ...

'', where Mammon oversees a cave of worldly wealth. Milton's ''

Paradise Lost ''Paradise Lost'' is an Epic poetry, epic poem in blank verse by the English poet John Milton (1608–1674). The poem concerns the Bible, biblical story of the fall of man: the temptation of Adam and Eve by the fallen angel Satan and their ex ...

'' describes a fallen angel who values earthly treasure over all other things.''Select Notes on the International Sabbath School Lessons'', F. N. Peloubet, W. A. Wilde and Company, Boston, 1880. Later

occult The occult () is a category of esoteric or supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of organized religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving a 'hidden' or 'secret' agency, such as magic and mysti ...

ist writings such as Jacques Collin de Plancy's '' Dictionnaire Infernal'' describe Mammon as Hell's ambassador to England. For

Thomas Carlyle Thomas Carlyle (4 December 17955 February 1881) was a Scottish essayist, historian, and philosopher. Known as the "Sage writing, sage of Chelsea, London, Chelsea", his writings strongly influenced the intellectual and artistic culture of the V ...

in '' Past and Present'' (1843), the "Gospel of Mammonism" became simply a metaphoric personification for the

materialist Materialism is a form of philosophical monism according to which matter is the fundamental substance in nature, and all things, including mental states and consciousness, are results of material interactions. According to philosophical materia ...

spirit of the 19th century. Mammon is somewhat similar to the Greek god Plutus, and the Roman

Dis Pater Dis Pater (; ; genitive ''Ditis Patris''), otherwise known as Rex Infernus or Pluto, is a Roman god of the underworld. Dis was originally associated with fertile agricultural land and mineral wealth, and since those minerals came from undergrou ...

, in his description, and it is likely that he was at some point based on them; especially since Plutus appears in ''

The Divine Comedy The ''Divine Comedy'' (, ) is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun and completed around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature and one of the greatest wor ...

'' as a wolf-like demon of wealth, wolves having been associated with greed in the

Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas ( ; ; – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican Order, Dominican friar and Catholic priest, priest, the foremost Scholasticism, Scholastic thinker, as well as one of the most influential philosophers and theologians in the W ...

metaphorically described the sin of Avarice as "Mammon being carried up from Hell by a wolf, coming to inflame the human heart with Greed". Under the influence of the Social Gospel movement, American populists, progressives and "muck-rakers" during the generation of 1880–1925 used "Mammon" with specific reference to the consolidated wealth and power of the banking and corporate institutions headquartered on Wall Street and their predatory activities nationwide.

In various countries

* "Mamona" (sometimes "Mamuna") is a synonym for mammon among

Slavs The Slavs or Slavic people are groups of people who speak Slavic languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout the northern parts of Eurasia; they predominantly inhabit Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Southeastern Europe, and ...

. In the 21st century, the word "mamona" is used figuratively and derogatorily in Polish as a synonym of

. In Slovak the word ''mamonár'' is sometimes used to refer to a greedy person. * The word "mammona" is quite often used in the Finnish and

Estonian language Estonian ( ) is a Finnic language and the official language of Estonia. It is written in the Latin script and is the first language of the majority of the country's population; it is also an official language of the European Union. Estonian is sp ...

s as a synonym of material wealth. * In German, the word "Mammon" is a colloquial and contemptuous term for "money". Usually as a phrase in combination with the adjective "schnöde" ("der schnöde Mammon" = the contemptible mammon).

In literature

The 1409

Lollard Lollardy was a proto-Protestantism, proto-Protestant Christianity, Christian religious movement that was active in England from the mid-14th century until the 16th-century English Reformation. It was initially led by John Wycliffe, a Catholic C ...

manuscript titled '' Lanterne of Light'' associated Mammon with the deadly sin of

greed Greed (or avarice, ) is an insatiable desire for material gain (be it food, money, land, or animate/inanimate possessions) or social value, such as status or power. Nature of greed The initial motivation for (or purpose of) greed and a ...

. In ''Past and Present'' (1843),

describes

Victorian England In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed th ...

's worship of money as the "Gospel of Mammonism".

In popular culture

Numerous characters and demons are named Mammon in books, film, television, and games.

References

External links

"Mammon"
at thmon-mammon "Mamon"] at the ''Jewish Encyclopedia''
"Mammon"
at the ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' {{Authority control Christian terminology Demons in Christianity Fortune gods Money New Testament Aramaic words and phrases New Testament Hebrew words and phrases Personifications