Everything about Mammon totally explained
Mammon is used in the
New Testament to describe material wealth or
greed.
Definition
Webster 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.
The word is used in contemporary language with the same meaning in at least
Finnish (
mammona),
Danish (
mammon),
Dutch ("mammon"),
Hebrew (
mamon),
Norwegian (
mammon),
Polish (
mamona),
Czech (
mamon),
Slovak (
mamona),
Swedish (
mammon),
German (
Mammon) and
Afrikaans (
Mammon).
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
Etymologically, the word is assumed to derive from Late Latin 'mammon', from Greek 'μαμμωνάς', Syrian 'mámóna' (riches), Aramaic 'mamon' (riches), probably from Mishnaic Hebrew 'ממון (mmôn)'. 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.
Mammon is somewhat similar to the Greek god
Plutus, and the Roman
Dis Pater, in his description, and it's 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".
Fiction
Chrono Trigger - In the video game, a Mammon Machine is created by Queen Zeal, symbolizing immortality, greed and power. It is destroyed by the red knife later known as the Masamune.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Mammon'.
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