„If the love of money is the root of all evil, the need of money is most certainly the root of all despair.“

Have you ever heard the phrase, “the love of money is the root of all evil”?  Perhaps the way it was spoken and applied has led you to bear a weight of condemnation when you need, enjoy, use, and earn money?

Whether or not this is the case, I want to show you what the Scripture here means in regard to money.

The phrase “the love of money is the root of all evil” is found in 1 Timothy 6:6-12. However, it’s not directly taken from the Scriptures. It’s actually a mis-quotation that drives a lot of people into unscriptural, scarcity-based thinking. Scripture says that the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, and understanding the full meaning of these words impacts us in more ways than our finances. 

“The love of money is the root of all evil.”

It’s one of the most commonly quoted verses in the Bible.

Leaving many asking » is money the root of all evil?»

And yet, it can be a very confusing phrase without any context.

None of us really act like money is a bad thing.

None of us even act like the love of money is a bad thing.

Most Americans work 40+ hours a week just to make money. If that isn’t love, what is it?

But this phrase, which the Apostle Paul said to Timothy in a personal letter, carries a much deeper meaning than “money is bad and you shouldn’t want it.”

The Apostle Paul was making a deeper point about how to live our lives for a vision and a purpose that is bigger than money so that we know how to use that money well.

Here, we’re going to unpack that Bible verse, its context, how it’s been explained throughout the history of the church, and a few ways to apply it in a sermon. 

Because of an edit made in your post, it is important to note that money itself is not being called the root of all evils (nor all sorts of evils) in this passage, it is the love of money that is problematic, as the edit to the question has clarified.

With that said, 1 Timothy 6:10 is a difficult text to translate. A literal translation of the text would read like so:

My initial thoughts concerning this translation is that using a literal translation makes this verse less ‘quote-worthy’. People like to quote individual verses in the Bible without their surrounding context. If you don’t use the definite article and helping words, this verse doesn’t make much sense standing alone. This makes it less ‘quote-worthy’ unless one also reads the surrounding context.

I don’t believe making a verse into something easier to quote is a good motivation for adding helping words to clarify it, but it also isn’t really changing the meaning in context, it is merely adding terms to clarify it.

ибо корень всех зол есть сребролюбие, которому предавшись, некоторые уклонились от веры и сами себя подвергли многим скорбям.

For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

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.

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.

Sometimes, a little research into the Greek or Hebrew can aid in determining the English definition of the English word that was chosen by the translators. However, as a whole (in about 99.8% of the cases), a reference to the Greek or Hebrew is made either to correct the English (as in your example above) or to exalt the intelligence of the teacher/preacher. In almost every case, reference to the original languages does not clarify the meaning but actually muddies the water of understanding. Many run to the Greek and Hebrew because they have not taken the time to understand the doctrine in question, the message of the Bible book, or the English language in context.

However, I do not mean to seem extremely harsh. This is what Bible students are taught to do from the time they enter Bible College or Seminary. They learn it as a habit from teachers they respect. Therefore, those who over-emphasize the importance of the original languages have much to support them in their approach. People like me who believe in the preservation of the King James Bible are those ridiculed as ignorant. There are some good people who have just not seen the power of the English.

The interpretation of 1 Timothy 6:10 is an interesting experiment in these two approaches to God’s word. We are continually told that the King James wording is wrong and that the passage can be understood by going to the Greek. We are told that the Greek clearly states «a» root. What people are usually not told is that the Greek has no equivalent to the English «a» or «an.» The Greek language has no indefinite article.

Greek does have a definite article; an equivalent to our «the.» The argument goes that when the «the» is missing, it automatically means «a» or «an.» Interestingly enough, this is the same argument used by the Jehovah Witnesses to «prove» that John 1:1 says «the Word was a god.» Of course, everyone but the Jehovah’s Witnesses know this is foolishness. The problem is that interpretation is much more complicated than learning and applying a few grammatical rules.  We would do better to trust the wisdom of the King James translators (who grew up learning the original languages) and the providence of God in preserving His infallible word.

So, what can we do with 1 Timothy 6:10? What does it mean that «the love of money is the root of all evil»? I think we can come to a conclusion by making a few observations. First, the root of all evil is not money, but the love of money. The root is greed; the desire to have money. Second, this love of money is the root of all «evil.» We should note that the verse does not say that the love of money is the root of every sin. Rather, it is the root of all evil. Evil is a more general word than the word sin. It refers to the bad things we see in this world. Think of evil in its particular manifestations: the evil of drunkenness, the evil of prostitution, the evil of war, the evil of pornography, etc. Now consider each of these evils. Do they not all find their root in the love of money?

True, someone may become drunk for reasons other than the love of money. But why is this evil so rampant in the world? Is it not because greedy people are trying to make a buck on this evil? The root of every bar and dive in every part of the world is the love of money. The same could be said of war, prostitution, pornography, and much more. Dig deep enough into a societal evil; dig all the way down to the root of why that evil is so rampant in the world, and you will find the love of money.

It is not as difficult as many think it to be. The love of money is still the root of all evil.

Ergo, money equals liberty? It’s 4:30 a.m. — let’s plan the revolution tomorrow.

All Hail the Federal Reserve!

We are not free, the banks own us.

This is incredibly true. Learn, people, about your enslavement.

That’s the future. Are you a banker or a simple human being?

It’s coming to fruition. See the fight in the UK by people reclaiming extortionate bank charges.

There is nothing so sinister, so crafty, so much against the laws of freedom and the law of God, than what the big-banking elites have done in Europe, America, and now are doing in the entire world. The kind of usury practiced by these oligarchic aristocrats has gained them the world, but lost them their souls.

The modern banking system makes possible the financing of some huge projects. In ancient times those types of projects were done by the King and usually through slave labor. Our system allows someone with a vision to attain it without being a King or a tyrant. As much as we may fear the type of control money plays in our society we should beware of what kind of world we would have without it. Unless you want a Socialist dictatorship you really have no other choice. The anti bank rhetoric has been fodder for the propaganda of Adolph Hitler and many others. I fear that the bank haters see the word bank and think Jew. I believe much of the bank hatred is founded in anti-Semitism.

Your ignorance knows no bounds, warren. We don’t have to legalize counterfeiting and debasement of the currency to build pyramids. Secondly, to label those that point out the unconstitutionality of fiat currency as anti-semitic is a grand stretch. There are plenty of Christians who also support and promote communist planks like a central bank. If you defend the establishment of a central bank that prints up legal tender, then you are promoting Communism — period.

This is so true. Our entire monetary system is based on debt. Debt to a privately owned central bank. Debt=Slavery

It’s refreshing to see new names on here that REALLY KNOW what’s going on. The love of money and the power the creation of it out of thin air brings IS the root of all evil. The quote is correct but my 5 stars are for the new names (to me) above!

There are many absolutes of, and philosophical concepts about freedom, liberty, law and justice that have been taken from the many’s consciousness. Those hidden truths that are so intrinsic to man will rise once again, bringing conflict between the individual noble sovereign (kings and queens, Caesars, each and every one) and those power mongers that would be their slave masters. «all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.» (Declaration of Independence) It is one of the primary issues, that of exchanging debt for intrinsically valued tangible money, with the results there of, that will expose and bring about the conflict between We The People and the power mongering money changers.

I hear it’s already started in Scotland

Wow, our group has grown!! Different thoughts expressed! Thats America!

If you will check into the history of the International Bankers, such as Rothschild, Warberg, Rockefeller, etc. you will find they are of Jewish decent, however they are Zionist Jews, not of the typical Jewish Families, and not holding the honor of the typical Jew.

Screw the bankster hucksters. They’re con men who run ponzi schemes which take advantage of people’s ignorance of the monetary system, to basically steal all their property. This is clearly unconstitutional in three ways; first, only the gov’t is to issue our money (that’s right the federal reserve act of 1913 is in itself, unconstitutional), only gold and silver (or backing of currency) are to be money in these United States, and thirdly, this scheme deprives citizens of «life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness», which can be construed as their property. WAKE UP, PEOPLE, we are the sovereigns, we are the government, these corrupt scumbag politicians WORK FOR AND ANSWER TO US!!!! Abolish the fed, Abolish lobbying, 10th Amendment States Rights!!

WARREN, you must educate yourself on banking, as practiced by the «international bankers». regional banks like comerica and flagstar, here in michigan, are not protected by the federal reserve cartel like BAC, JPM, WFC, C, GS, or MS. they just take in deposits and pay 1-2% interest, loan the deposits out at 5-12%, and make enough income to pay costs and have some profit hopefully. the only part of this that may be disputable is the capital reserve ratio, where they loan out $10 for every $1 they have in deposits, this is the capital reserve ratio.

the problem is that our money since 1913 has been created out of nothing by the private federal reserve, then loaned back to us at interest, which costs taxpayers over $500 billion/year currently, and increasing greatly because of expansion of the money supply—running the printing presses overtime! this is what the federal income tax is for, it was instituted the same year the federal reserve act was passed, 1913. ALL OF OUR FEDERAL INCOME TAXES GOES TO PAY THE INTEREST ON OUR MONEY SUPPLY THAT THE FED CREATES OUT OF NOTHING!!!! (a total scam)

the ultra elites of the world, who are never mentioned in the forbes 500 list, want a world communist gov’t with a world currency, which will give them total control of the economy and the people. you see, they understand that the only constant in life is change, and they’re on top of the mountain, and want no change, so they need as much control as possible to keep the status quo. these people are monopoly men, not capitalists!! as jd rockefeller said, «competition is a sin.»

bill gates and warren buffet, at about $40-60 billion each, are nothing compared to the rothschild dynasty at about $500 trillion, and the rockefellers at around $300 trillion. these two families and their tax exempt foundations are doing the social engineering of our societies right in front of us, but we’re too involved with «dancing with the stars» or «america’s got talent» or the nfl or some other diversion, to see it happening. check out radioliberty.com, infowars.com, cuttingthroughthematrix.com

I think that banking in itself is a great idea, which ensures savings, investment and security. However once these guys get buddy buddy with the fat cats on the hill and control the monetary system, something needs to be done. END THE FED!

Here in Canada the politicians will debate anything else but the criminal banking system. Why is that? Would they be removed from their positions in some way? I believe they would, and quickly. The issue is taboo.

To tar all bankers with the same brush is absurd as is the outright condemnation of banks. They fulfil a vital role in providing liquid resources to expand businesses, build great enterprises and provide funding for governments. As with everything else in life excesses will arise from time to time and ways must be found to curb these and prevent, in as far as one can, further excesses. The most dangerous group in the community are those who when they see something go wrong condemn the whole of the enterprise and those engaged in it outright and thus provide a platform for extremists.

The ROTHSCHILDS won’t like it.

Eustace Mullins videos are a fount of information regarding the ruling elite and their banking shenanigans. He once said the creation of money from nothing as the central banks do is sacrilegious because only God can create something from nothing. This shows their kabalistic beliefs.

I would say money is not the root of all evil, but it is definitely evils main weapon. And for that evil to prevail, all good people need do is stay lazy and greedy and do nothing.

The weapon of the people is their aweareness of just how valuable their labour really is, their skills, who they really are, not who they are told to be.

Acton warned us by saying the problems with the banks has haunted mankind throughout the centuries, and it would inevitably be another round of the people versus the same banks.

Today we see the Chinese government printing its own money, loaning it out at zero percent, Ok, its human rights may be slightly sour, but its monetary system is creating the wealth the west now admires and should have.

Glassy eyed rules and government owned cash is the only way to render these thieves bankrupt.

Someone mentioned the Rothschilds.

Let Scripture Inform Your Theology of Money, and Set Your Heart on Christ

As Ecclesiastes 10:19 says, “A feast is made for laughter, and wine makes merry; but money answers everything.” The author of Ecclesiastes points out that money is involved in every aspect of life. And when we examine what the whole Bible has to say about money, we see that money is always a blessing and poverty is always a curse.

Whether you love or hate or are indifferent to money, I encourage you to search the Scriptures, not with the intent to defend or justify your feelings about money, but to submit your understanding of money’s place in your life to God’s trustworthy authority.

Read what God has to say about money from Genesis through Revelation. Whatever form it takes, God wants to provide for you. But more than being comfortable in your resources, He wants you to have a pure heart. He wants you to pursue Him and not riches, and to steward His gifts well for His glory.

However God blesses you, worship the giver and enjoy his gifts, always remaining sensitive to how He calls you to give back and bless others. And when you submit your finances to His Lordship and obey everything He says to do regarding money, your heart will be freed to center on Jesus—where it belongs.  

This article is part of our larger resource library of popular Bible verse phrases and quotes. We want to provide easy to read articles that answer your questions about the meaning, origin and history of specific verses within Scripture context. It is our hope that these will help you better understand the meaning and purpose of God’s Word in relation to your life today.

«Be Still and Know that I Am God»
«Pray Without Ceasing» 
«Fearfully and Wonderfully Made»
«Faith Without Works is Dead»
«Trust in the Lord with All Your Heart»
«All Things Work Together for Good»
«Be Strong and Courageous» 

Photo credit: Unsplash / Sharon McCutcheon

Money Is What Human Hearts Choose to Make It

Money is a tool.

It is a method of exchange: something you give someone in exchange for something else. It is amoral—neither good nor evil. But, its undeniable importance in our daily lives means that the enemy does all he can to rob people of a true, Biblical understanding of money.

That’s why, as Christians, we should know that God says:

• His blessing makes you rich (Proverbs 10:22).
• He will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19). That’sa lot of riches—and a LOT of supply!
• He wants us to save money for future needs, lean times, and emergencies (Proverbs 6:6-8).
• He honors the work of investing money and building upstanding businesses (Proverbs 31:16).
• We are to keep a close watch on our finances (Proverbs 27:23-27).
• And most importantly, we are to be acutely aware that God owns it all. Everything in Heaven and earth belongs to God, and we are only stewarding His resources on His behalf (1 Chronicles 29:10-12; Psalm 24:1).

In Summary

• Money is ‘the’ root of all evil
• The love of money is a root of all evils (1 Timothy 6:10)
• But “the love of money” is a form of idolatry, the pursuit of which can result in many evils
• Money is merely a tool, neither good nor bad
• Prosperity is the natural result of wisdom, diligence, hard work, giving, and trusting God
• But ‘the desire to be rich’ results in ruin
• You cannot both and “the love of money”
• Serving God’s kingdom and righteousness brings His blessing
• So, love God first with all your heart

If you liked this, you may also like:

Church History’s Understanding of 1 Timothy 6

This verse has been used throughout church history to comment on the spiritual power that the desire for money can gain over our souls. Here, we will look at examples from three Johns—John Chrysostom (4th century), John Calvin (16th century), and John Wesley (18th century).

John Chrysostom: 

“Ver. 9. ‘But they that will be rich’; not those that are rich, but those who wish to be. For a man may have money and make a good use of it, not overvaluing it, but bestowing it upon the poor. Such therefore he does not blame, but the covetous. ‘They that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.’ He has justly said, ‘they drown men,’ since they cannot be raised from that depth. ‘In destruction and perdition.’ 

Ver. 10. ‘For the love of money is the root of all evil; which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.’ Two things he mentions, and that which to them might seem the more weighty he places last, their many sorrows. And to learn how true this is, the only way is to sojourn with the rich, to see how many are their sorrows, how bitter their complaints.”

John Calvin: 

Hence also those foolish, or rather, mad desires, which at length plunge them into perdition. This is, indeed, a universal evil; but in the pastors of the Church it is more easily seen; for they are so maddened by avarice, that they stick at nothing, however foolish, whenever the glitter of gold or silver dazzles their eyes.”

John Wesley:

“But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.”

“They that desire to be rich” — To have more than these; for then they would be so far rich; and the very desire banishes content, and exposes them to ruin. 

“Fall-plunge” — A sad gradation! Into temptation — Miserable food for the soul! And a snare — Or trap. Dreadful «covering!» And into many foolish and hurtful desires — Which are sown and fed by having more than we need. Then farewell all hope of content! What then remains, but destruction for the body, and perdition for the soul?

How to Preach 1 Timothy 6:10

We can apply several of these things to the Christian life. When preaching a sermon, consider these three points as you craft your application for this text.

1. Money is a good means, but a bad God.

‍Christians often feel guilty about making money—especially because of a misunderstanding of 1 Timothy 6:10. Take this opportunity to ease people of that guilt and change their understanding of this text from a prohibition against wealth to a warning about wealth. 

2. We often lose what we think money will give us by pursuing it above all else.

3. Giving to the church is God’s way of keeping a check on our love of money.

God commands his people to give to the church. This practice helps Christians to maintain a financial margin in their lives so that they refrain from spending money on frivolous things, and so that their time and money can be a service to God’s work through his kingdom on earth: the church.

You may have heard, “Money is the root of all evil”

But is that true?

What does the Bible say?

“Money is the root of all evil” is a misquote of 1 Timothy 6:10, taken out of context. A literal, word for word translation from the Greek would be: “Root for of all evils is the love of money.” A better arrangement for English would be: “For a root of all evils is the love of money” or “For the love of money is a root of all evils.” This Bible study will examine this famous Bible misquote and explain what 1 Timothy 6:10 really means.

Possible readings

Daniel Wallace (who was one of the principal translators on the NET Translation Committee) points out in Greek Grammar beyond the Basics: An Exegetical Syntax of the New Testament that there are six (6) possible readings of this verse (p. 265):

1. “the love of money is a root of all evils”
2. “the love of money is the root of all evils”
3. “the love of money motivates all evils”
4. “the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils”
5. “the love of money is the root of all kinds of evils”
6. “the love of money motivates all kinds of evils”

The reason for these six possibilities is that first, it is difficult
to tell whether ῥίζα is indefinite (options 1 & 4), definite (2 & 5),
or qualitative (3 & 6), and secondly, πάντων may mean “all without
exclusion” (1, 2, & 3) or “all without distinction” (4, 5, & 6).

Logically, it would be difficult to say that ῥίζα is definite, for
then the text would be saying either (1) the only root of all evils is
the love of money or that (2) the greatest root (par excellence) of
all evils is the love of money. These are the options if πάντων means
“all without exclusion.” However, the definite idea would fit if
πάντων means “all without distinction.”

Despite Wallace’s conclusion based on the analysis of this particular text, it is also notable that the NET translators point out that «there is no parallel for taking a construction like this to mean ‘all kinds of’ or ‘every kind of.’ The normal sense is ‘all evils.'» The next section of this post will thus analyze the occurrences of πάντων τῶν κακῶν elsewhere.

Also notable is that by his own admission, Wallace’s analysis only consisted of similar constructions in the New Testament corpus. This can often produce a short-sighted view of the linguistic use. A fuller study should compare similar grammatical constructions in all contemporary and other early Greek literature. Unfortunately, I do not have the time nor inclination to conduct such a study for an answer on BH.SE (such an answer would be for publication in a peer-reviewed journal or book). Even so, a cursory search for πάντων τῶν κακῶν was conducted of classical Greek literature (still not the ideal corpus in all cases, but it can still shed light on this).

Delimitation: I am only searching for the phrase πάντων τῶν κακῶν in the Perseus Digital Library. I am not searching for all anarthrous pre-verbal predicate nominatives to see if they are best understood as definite or not, nor am I searching for other key terms and phrases within the verse (doing so should be done for a complete analysis of this issue, but is the stuff of dissertations and academic publications, not answers on SE).

Context of 1 Timothy 6

Proper interpretation requires that we consider the Biblical context in which a passage occurs, so let’s look at the verses which precede the source of this famous quote.

1 Timothy 6:6-10

• But godliness with contentment is great gain. 
• For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. 
• And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. 
• But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. 
• For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

The context preceding this passage (1 Timothy 6:6-8) stresses the importance of our attitude toward the things of this world. Specifically, we must be content with what we have. We should not strive to amass material goods or wealth in this world because we cannot take it with us when we leave.

Discontent with what God has given us is an enemy of godliness. We are instructed to be content as long as we have food to eat and clothes to wear.

The immediate context of our
quote is a warning against discontent, and the damage that lusting after riches
can bring.

“They that will be rich” refers to people who make getting rich a goal in of itself, because they have a lust for money and “the things of the world” it can buy (1 John 2:15-17).

There is nothing intrinsically wrong with money, wealth or riches

Prosperity in Proverbs

It should be noted here that there is nothing wrong with being rich. Proverbs teaches that prosperity is a natural result of wisdom, diligence, hard work, giving, and trusting God.

• “Riches and honor are with me (wisdom), enduring wealth and righteousness.” (Proverbs 8:18 / ESV)
• “The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty.” (Proverbs 21:15 / ESV)
• “All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.” (Proverbs 14:23 / NIV)
• “One person gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.” (Proverbs 11:24-25 / NIV)
• “He who has pity on the poor lends to the LORD, And He will pay back what he has given.” (Proverbs 19:17 / NKJV)
• “An arrogant man stirs up strife, But he who trusts in the LORD will prosper” (Proverbs 28:25 / NASB)

There is nothing intrinsically wrong with money, wealth or riches. The problem comes when there is a greedy heart attitude that lusts for money and “the things of this world” (1 John 2:15-17), which is a form of idolatry. Chasing money just to be rich often leads to ruin and has caused many to err from the faith.

The Sermon on the Mount

During the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus commanded us not to lay up for ourselves treasures on earth, but rather to lay our treasures up in heaven because “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:19-21). No one can serve two masters. So, don’t let “the love of money” come between you and God.

Don’t let “the love of money” come between you and God

Jesus continued His message on the mount, saying not to worry about the physical necessities of life as the Gentiles do. Instead, we are to trust our Heavenly Father to take care of us and provide what we need. (Matthew 6:25-34)

Rather than chasing after money and the things of the world, Christians are commanded to seek God’s kingdom and righteousness first. Jesus promised that God will give us all we need if we just keep Him first. (Matthew 6:33)

Translations of 1 Timothy 6

The money is the root of all evil bible verse in question here is 1 Timothy 6:10: “For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.” First, let’s read through a few different translations of this Bible verse to get a sense of how the Apostle Paul is using it:

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.

NIV: Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

The Message: “But if it’s only money these leaders are after, they’ll self-destruct in no time. Lust for money brings trouble and nothing but trouble. Going down that path, some lose their footing in the faith completely and live to regret it bitterly ever after.”

Money is of evil

God revealed the origin of sin and evil for us in His Word, and it has nothing to do with money.

Satan’s Fall

Satan was created as Lucifer, one of the highest angels, an anointed cherub that covered the throne of God. He was given beauty, wisdom, and power, but he was not satisfied with his position in heaven. He wanted an exalted throne of his own. He wanted to be like the Most High God. (Isaiah 14:12-14; Ezekiel 28:12-17)

As far as we know, Satan was the first to sin after creation. Satan’s fall had nothing to do with money. He just was not content with what God had given him. He was proud; he wanted more power and glory. He wanted to be God.

Money had nothing to do with the origin of evil

Eve’s Fall

The next sin we know of is described in Genesis 3:1-6. The devil used a serpent to tempt Eve to sin by questioning God’s Word, goodness, and motives. He used the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life (1 John 2:16) to offer her what he wanted (to be like God).

When the devil deceived Eve, he deposited doubt and discontent in her heart. When she stepped into Satan’s snare, Eve learned about sin by becoming evil. While innocent, Eve had been good like God. Now she became sinful like the sinister snake.

Adam’s Fall

Like the Serpent, the first thing the woman did with her new knowledge was to tempt an innocent to join the rebellion. After eating the forbidden fruit herself, Eve convinced the man to eat it with her. So, Adam ate the fatal fruit, plunging all of humanity into sin and death.

Neither Adam nor Eve sinned because of a love for money. Eve simply wanted to eat the forbidden fruit as food and to gain knowledge so she could be like God (Genesis 3:6). The Bible does not explicitly say why Adam sinned, only that he was condemned because he listened to the voice of his wife and ate fruit from the forbidden tree (Genesis 3:17).

It is clearly inaccurate to say,

“Money is the root of all evil.”

The First Murder

Genesis 4 reveals the extreme discontent of Cain (Adam and Eve’s first child) because God rejected his offering the fruit of his labor instead of the blood of a lamb as God had commanded. Rather than repenting, Cain rejected God and angrily shed the blood of his righteous brother Abel. Again, money had nothing to do with this evil act.

Money itself is not the root of all evil, but an inordinate lust to get more of it spawns many evil thoughts, intentions, and actions. Greed and avarice motivate many to wicked ways and the idolatrous worship of money.

10 – Word Study

A Root

It should be noted that while the King James Version (KJV) places a definite article before the word “root” (rendering it as “the root”), there is no definite article in the Greek text. Greek has no indefinite article, so the choice as to whether to add one (i.e.: “a”) is based on the context and what reads most naturally in English. Most English versions include the indefinite article, making it “a root.”

Evils

While most English versions (including the KJV) translate this word as singular (i.e.: “evil”), the word is actually plural in Greek, so “evils” is a more literal translation. This passage is not referring to moral wickedness in general (i.e.: evil). It is referring to the multitude of ways that wickedness can be expressed (i.e.: evils). Most English Bibles supply helping words that convey this distributive idea but many still translate “evils” as singular (e.g.: “all kinds of evil”).

The Love of Money

The misquoting of the Greek word, “philarguria,” may be the biggest cause of confusion. The word does not mean “money.” It refers to avarice, miserliness, greed. All English Bibles I checked (including the KJV) accurately translate it as “the love of money.”

Based on the word study, the best translation for this statement in English would be something like: “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils.” This is vastly different in meaning from the improperly quoted expression, “money is the root of all evil.”

Money is non-moral; it is inherently neither good nor evil. It is merely a tool, a medium of exchange to simplify the process of trading when buying or selling goods or services.

The problem is not with money itself. The problem is with an excessive desire / lust for money and all that can be done with it.

Loving money has nothing in common with loving Jesus.

“Loving money” means you set your desire on that money. It means your emotions are attached to money; that the affection of your heart is centered on money. It means the posture of your heart leans toward the accumulation of this resource that give you power, security, love, or anything that you do not trust God to satisfy with Himself.

Loving Jesus, on the other hand, means:

• Your desire is for Christ. You love Him, seek His face, and live only to please Him.
• Your emotions are centered on God. You depend on Him to comfort you, lead you, guide you, and fill you with His power, love, peace, joy, and all the fruit of the Spirit.
• You wake up and say, “Lord God, I commit my life to You today. You are everything to me. Would You glorify Your own name in my life today?”

We are not commanded to avoid money. Instead, the Bible commands us to use money, earn money, save money, invest money, and steward money well in service to Him—but to only love God and people, not money.

Occurrences of πάντων τῶν κακῶν in other Greek texts

1 Timothy 6:10 is the only occurrence of this phrase in the New Testament corpus, however, the phrase πάντων τῶν κακῶν occurs in six (6) verses in the Septuagint (LXX):

• Genesis 48:16 (Greek text)
• 1 Kingdoms (1 Samuel) 10:19 (Greek text)
• Esther 10:3f¹ (you can read the translation in English at F:6 here). (Greek text)
• 1 Maccabees 10:5 (Greek text)
• 2 Maccabees 13:4 (Greek text)
• Jeremiah 18:8 (Greek text)

All of the occurrences of πάντων τῶν κακῶν in the Septuagint appear to best be translated as ‘all the evils’. Many instances occur with a genitive pronoun (e.g. ‘all their evils’), but even so, none of these instances seem to be best understood as ‘all sorts/kinds of evils’.

Next I searched the Perseus Digital Library for instances of this phrase in other early Greek literature and found twenty-four (24) occurrences (I did this search with software, but you can do the same search online for free, this will link directly to the search results; note that the text of interest was one of these occurrences, i.e. 1 Timothy 6:10). I only took a cursory glance at the results due to time constraints (although I did personally translate several of them, but my analysis of the first ten results was admittedly much more thorough than that of the last fourteen). In most of these cases, the more literal translation also seems preferred (i.e. not adding ‘kinds/sorts of’).² The few where adding ‘sorts/kinds of’ may be preferable for translation (the English translation on the Perseus Digital Library opted for the literal translation in these as well—this is more or less a concession on my part from my analysis of the Greek text) are listed below:

The Context of 1 Timothy 6

First, note that the Apostle Paul is talking about a style of life that makes money its god. Paul is writing against a way of life that puts money above people, relationships, God, virtue, and charity.

Second, note that Paul is not writing against accumulating wealth. He is writing a young pastor to help him care for the souls of the churches he is planting. In summary, he is saying: “People who live like this often suffer these kinds of ends.” People who worship money often go down dark paths. That’s a more commonsense truth than “Loving money is evil.” And, it is much closer in spirit to what the Apostle Paul was saying.

Third, Paul wasn’t writing a textbook on business. He was, again, helping a young pastor to help his people focus on God. If Paul was writing a business book, he might have said: “If your goal is to make a profit, here’s how you do it.” Paul himself was a businessman—he owned a tent making business (Acts 18:3). 

Paul was a tentmaker so that he didn’t have to take money from churches. If tent making enabled Paul to do ministry without taking money from churches, then this means he turned a profit—more than that, it means he desired to turn a profit. Therefore, Paul wasn’t writing against money. Paul wasn’t mean you can’t desire to build wealth. He was saying that the desire for money is a dangerous desire, and in the grand scheme of things, we can’t take any of it with us when we die, as he says a few verses earlier: “we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world” (1 Tim. 6:7).

What God’s Word Actually Says about Money and Wealth (and loving it)

1 Timothy 6:6-12 actually says:

“Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content.

But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold of eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.”

Notice two things about this passage:

1. The Bible does not say that money is the root of all evil, but talks about “the love of money.”

This is a key difference because the whole passage—when you read it in context—is addressing the state of our hearts:

• What we desire,
• What we pursue,
• What we live for, and
• Whether our hearts are set on things above, where Christ is, or on material things of this earth.

In this passage, the apostle Paul tells us to desire God and all the things of God. He instructs us to pursue holy things with great passion, rather than setting our hearts and affections on wealth and riches.

2. The apostle Paul warned us about the real danger of “love of money.”

How many movies you have ever seen in which the villain was trying to steal or control power and money? If you are a fan of the big screen, you may actually have seen dozens or even hundreds of such storylines. You may not have realized what you were watching, but Hollywood is wrapped up with the desires of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—concisely, the lust for power and money.

That quest for power and money doesn’t always feel real to Christians. At some level, each of us is trying to live for God, so we don’t realize how serious the world’s addiction to money really is. However, for people who don’t know Jesus, the lust for power and money is immense.

This is why the Lord used the apostle Paul to warn us in 1 Timothy 6 to resist the love of money.

We are to love the Lord our God with all our hearts, with all our souls, and with all our strength. We are to love our neighbors as ourselves. We are to seek and desire the face of Jesus—along with all the godly and holy things He instructs us to do and pursue.

Final Analysis

I could spend a lot more time on this, and one probably should to better grasp this issue. But based on my cursory analysis, I’ll conclude with some of my thoughts (I here assume knowledge of the textual context, as I did not specifically address it in my answer):

1. The point of this passage in context seems to be that loving money motivates or produces evils.
2. Whether the helping words ‘kinds/sorts of’ should be added depends on how you understand the context. A literal reading could be supported without these helping words if it were an intentional hyperbole or if you understand ‘all the evils’ to refer to the ‘harmful desires’ that cause people ruin and destruction (v. 9), as well as other earlier listed vices. However, not using the definite article and helping words makes the text less ‘quote-worthy’ and thus more dependent on its surrounding context (which isn’t a bad thing in my opinion).
3. Wallace’s analysis of the New Testament corpus seems to jive well with my cursory analysis of other Greek corpora. That is, the definite idea fits since πάντων can mean ‘all without distinction’ in Greek literature.
4. There is some ambiguity between saying that ‘all evils can be motivated or initiated by the love for money’ or that ‘all kinds of evils can be motivated by the love for money’ (i.e. the translation difference does not result in a huge change in meaning either way).
5. I believe that the context should be the final guide, which leads me to support the following translations, the first of which I believe a footnote should help explain, as demonstrated below:

For the love of money is the root of all evils^a. Some
people in reaching for it have strayed from the faith and pierced
themselves with many sorrows.

^a _{‘all evils’ in this passage is either an example of
hyperbole or it refers to those ‘evils’ listed in vv. 4-9.}

For the love of money motivates/produces all kinds of evil(s).
Some people in reaching for it have strayed from the faith and pierced
themselves with many sorrows.

_{I am aware of some non sequitur logic in my final analysis, however due to time constraints I decided I needed to end this answer. I hope the work that has been done is a good start for your continued study of this passage.}

_{¹ Alternate reading labeled 10:3f in Alfred Rahlfs and Robert Hanhart, eds., Septuaginta: SESB Edition (Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 2006), Es 10:3f.}

Translating the indefinite noun ῥίζα

Despite this literal reading, translators agree virtually unanimously on translating ‘root’ as a definite noun in this passage, and as you have observed, they often disagree on whether to translate πάντων τῶν κακῶν as ‘of all kinds/sorts of evil/s’ or literally as ‘of all evils’ (based on a survey of major English translations). However, using the definite article often forces these same translations to add ‘kinds/sorts’ to avoid the text making the (obviously) false assertion that the love of money is the root of all evils, which I believe is the motivation behind inserting these helping words.

Conclusion

As you continue to study 1 Timothy 6:10—“For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil”—keep in mind the nuance and beauty of the truths this sentence aims to convey. If you feel guilty about money because of this verse, liberate yourself from that guilt. If you guilt others about money root of all evil, you are now free to stop.

But most of all—in Christ, we are free not to pursue money above all else, but to live for something bigger than ourselves: loving God and neighbor. This freedom should bring us joy, not guilt. And that is fundamental point that Paul is making in 1 Timothy 6:10 when he says “For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.”