Mammon

Stephen C. Carlson scarlson at mindspring.com
Fri Jan 28 22:56:26 EST 2000


At 12:27 PM 1/28/00 -0800, Joseph Garnier wrote:
>I am working in Luke 16: 9-13, and have difficulty with the word MAMMON.  To 
>my understanding Mammon was a personifiication of selfish wealth and 
>extravagance in opposition to God that was well-known among those of Aramaic 
>culture.  That quality of personification is lost on today's readers when 
>the word is transliterated Mammon, as in most translations, or wealth as in 
>the rest.  I have thought long and hard for a personification of selfish 
>extravagance that is generallyh known in our culture, and I think the most 
>widely recognized term is Scrooge, and so I am using it instead of Mammon.  
>In the statement that you cannot serve God and Scrooge (v.13), I think the 
>appropriateness of personification is vital to a correct interpretation.  
>What do you who are wiser and more knowledgeable than I think?

Interesting question.  How about: "You cannot serve both God and
the Almighty Dollar"?

Stephen Carlson
--
Stephen C. Carlson                        mailto:scarlson at mindspring.com
Synoptic Problem Home Page   http://www.mindspring.com/~scarlson/synopt/
"Poetry speaks of aspirations, and songs chant the words."  Shujing 2.35



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