I Timothy 6:10
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For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. By craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.
Commentaries
Excerpts gathered from published commentaries to ground the reading.
the love of money--not the money itself, but the love of it--the wishing to be rich (Ti1 6:9) --"is a root (ELLICOTT and MIDDLETON: not as English Version, 'the root') of all evils." (So the Greek plural). The wealthiest may be rich not in a bad sense; the poorest may covet to be so (Psa 62:10). Love of money is not the sole root of evils, but it is a leading "root of bitterness" (Heb 12:15), for "it destroys faith, the root of all that is good" [BENGEL]; its offshoots are "temptation, a snare, lusts, destruction, perdition." coveted after--lusted after. erred from--literally, "have been made to err from the faith" (Ti1 1:19; Ti1 4:1). pierced-- (Luk 2:35). with . . . sorrows--"pains": "thorns" of the parable (Mat 13:22) which choke the word of "faith." "The prosperity of fools destroys them" (Pro 1:32). BENGEL and WIESINGER make them the gnawings of conscience, producing remorse for wealth badly acquired; the harbingers of the future "perdition" (Ti1 6:9).
Open source ↗I. He treats of the duty of servants (Ti1 6:1, Ti1 6:2). II. Of false teachers (Ti1 6:3-5). III. Of godliness and covetousness (Ti1 6:6-10). IV. What Timothy was to flee, and what to follow (Ti1 6:11, Ti1 6:12). V. A solemn charge (Ti1 6:13-16). VI. A charge for the rich (Ti1 6:17-19). And lastly, a charge to Timothy (Ti1 6:20, Ti1 6:21).
Open source ↗Cross-references
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Such is the fate of all who are greedy, whose unjust gain takes the lives of its possessors.
Those who want to be rich, however, fall into temptation and become ensnared by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction.
Many are the sorrows of the wicked, but loving devotion surrounds him who trusts in the LORD.
So they will eat the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.
who must be silenced. For the sake of dishonorable gain, they undermine entire households and teach things they should not.
Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets practice divination for money. Yet they lean upon the LORD, saying, “Is not the LORD among us? No disaster can come upon us.”
Like ravenous dogs, they are never satisfied. They are shepherds with no discernment; they all turn to their own way, each one seeking his own gain:
Woe to them! They have traveled the path of Cain; they have rushed headlong into the error of Balaam; they have perished in Korah’s rebellion.
because Demas, in his love of this world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia.
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let in those who wish to enter.