IS THE LOVE OF MONEY REALLY THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL?

IS THE LOVE OF MONEY REALLY THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL?

dollar bills

For the love of money is the root of all evil...

—1 Timothy 6:10

What is evil? Perhaps if we know what this passage of Scripture means by “evil”, then we can tell whether or not all “evil” is a consequence of the love of money.

This verse begins with a conjoining word “for”—meaning the same and functioning as “because”—showing it’s a conclusion of some premise before it in the previous verse(s).

The previous verse speaks of riches leading its addicts into temptation, snare, foolish and hurtful lusts, destruction and perdition. Surely these are the evil spoken about in the next verse: temptation and snare—or in other synonym, “many sorrows”.

For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after...pierced themselves with many sorrows.

Love of money = Covetousness

All evil = Many sorrows

So we can rephrase that the love of money is the root (cause) of all sorrows.

Does this now mean that anyone who is in sorrow or in any predicament is in it because of their greed (love of money)?

Some translations have changed “the root” in this verse to “a root”, making it to read, “For the love of money is a root of all evil”—making the love of money just one of the possible causes of all sorrows instead of the single cause of all evil (sorrows) as old translations suggest. But this is an unfortunate initiative of man to change God’s word. They wonder, like the world, how can greed be the cause of all predicaments? So they try to change it in order to make it more sensible especially the ungodly world. But we do not have to make God look wise or acceptable to the world, for He already is the All-wise and Most Holy God. We either can accept His word or leave it and pay for it for all eternity. He remains unchanged on His everlasting throne. Amen.

There is something this passage does not say: it does not say that anyone suffering or in sorrow of fell into temptation is in that situation because of their love of money. No!

This Scripture is rather person-specific, that is, it speaks about a particular kind of people. Check where the message began in verse 9:

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 will be rich...,” that is, those who pursue riches, those who love money; for these kind of people, their love for money is the root of all the evil, predicaments, temptations and destruction that they will experience, and the many sorrows that will pierce them through.

...while some coveted after [money]...have pierced themselves through with many sorrows [and all evil].

—1 Timothy 6:10

A fine example of this is Judas Iscariot, the man who betrayed the Lord for the love of 30 pieces of silver.

Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests, and said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver. And from that time he sought opportunity to betray him.

—Matthew 26:14-16

Scripture says that he, being the Lord’s treasurer and having overseer of their money, had always been a thief (Jn. 12:6).

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 (1Tim. 6:10).