But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and many unwise and hurtful lusts, which plunge men into destruction and ruin.
Paul sets godly contentment against the restlessness of people whose aim in life is wealth. He then traces the road they take: a wish, then a trap, then ruin.
The verse targets a settled intention rather than the mere fact of having money. One writer notes that the word carries the force of a plan the heart has adopted.
In contrast with godly contentment there is the restlessness of those who desire to be rich. Wealth has its snares, as the Apostle shows a little later. But what ruins the soul is not necessarily the possession of wealth; it is the "desire to be rich." Others have pointed out that this word "desire" includes the idea of purpose. The danger is this. Instead of being content to earn his living, the believer may set himself with "purpose" of heart to be rich. So riches become the object, instead of the Lord.
One writer puts it to the reader directly:
Do you want to be rich? You will fall into a pit. This is the point. It is not that there is any harm in money, but in the love of it.
The ambition itself is a verdict on the heart that holds it.
What does such a desire betray? Discontent with the calling God has given; distrust of His will, goodness, and wisdom in the way He deals with each of us… Child of God, where is your treasure? Is it Christ in heaven? If so, you are happy! If it is wealth or distinction, the Lord warns, There also will be your heart. Many hold a fond notion that flatly contradicts Christ: that while the life is swallowed up in the struggle for riches, the heart is not there at all but stays true to Him. What could be more false, or more deceiving!
Being tempted and falling into temptation are two different things.
To fall into temptation is quite different from being tempted. Being tempted is hard; but blessed is the one who endures temptation… Christ suffered while He was tempted. He did not give in to the pleasure of the moment and then lie down afterwards in useless sorrow.
The second word marks a further stage, where escape is no longer in the person's own hands:
"A snare" goes further still than temptation. It pictures the deceived soul caught in the enemy's net, and only the grace and power of the Lord can free him.
The craving does not stay single.
Further, the desire for riches does not come alone. It is the parent of "many senseless and harmful desires." It feeds vanity. It breeds pride. It serves selfishness. It suggests and promotes ambition, and so may be the means of corrupting others.
The verse ends with two words for ruin. The ESV has "ruin and destruction"; the writer below quotes an older wording, "destruction and perdition", and weighs each word.
The way is sad and evil, and the end is wretched beyond words… Of course this describes "men," not "saints." But some of the most terrible examples are people who once took that place, and were perhaps recognized without question among those who confessed Christ… "Destruction" is the general word for their ruin; "perdition" is sharper and more dreadful still. Part of the snare and folly is to lean on the Lord's name, as if wearing it must shield a person from the harm that unbelief brings — the unbelief that treats His word lightly and lets self-will run loose.
One writer sets the whole chain — temptation, snare, harmful desires, ruin — beside the plain wish that starts it, and points to the way out.
This is the association God makes — what in His mind is bound up with the commonest of all desires, the desire to be rich! And His path of escape is this: having food and clothing, let us be content with that.
- Desire. The warning falls on the purpose to be rich, not on the money itself. When riches become the aim, they have replaced the Lord.
- Distrust. Wanting to be rich betrays discontent with the place God has given, and doubt about His goodness. To think the heart stays with Christ while the life chases wealth is self-deception.
- Descent. The verse maps a slope. A person can endure temptation. A snare is worse: the enemy's net holds the soul, and only the Lord's grace can free it.
- Doubling. One desire breeds many. It feeds vanity and pride, serves selfishness, fuels ambition, and can corrupt others along the way.
- Destruction. The end described is that of "men," not of saints. Still, no one should assume that wearing Christ's name shields a life that lets self-will run loose. The escape is contentment with food and clothing.
For the love of money is [the] root of every evil; which some having aspired after, have wandered from the faith, and pierced themselves with many sorrows.
Paul has just been speaking about people who want to be rich. Now he names the root underneath. The verse says three things at once. It shows where evil grows from, what it costs a person's faith, and whose hand holds the knife.
Commentators are careful with the wording. The claim is not that every wrong in the world can be traced back to cash.
The love of money is declared to be the root of every kind of evil. It is not that every bit of evil in the world comes from the love of money. Rather, the love of money is a root, and on various occasions every kind of evil springs from it.
The same care appears elsewhere: money "is a root that bears all manner of evil, not that it is the only root" — and the pursuit "will always defeat its own ends."
The verse turns the common view of money upside down.
The language of men betrays their mammon-worship. They think of money, and the love of it, as a root of "goods." God calls it a root of "evils." And not just possible evils but real ones — the evils that exist, subtle or important, of the flesh and of the mind. So the Lord had warned the disciples about the cares of this life, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desire for other things creeping in.
The Greek word here is philarguria. It names an appetite that a profession of religion does not cure.
Philarguria (from philos and arguros) literally means "love of money." It is the miser's sin, and a person may indulge it while professing religion. So Luke 16:14 applies the word to the Pharisees, and 2 Timothy 3:2 applies it to people who had a form of godliness but denied its power. This love of money is a root of all kinds of evil (1 Timothy 6:10). Those who go after it are liable to wander away from the faith, and to pierce themselves through with many sorrows.
Of all the damage this root does, the pull away from faith comes first. That order points to what money becomes in a heart.
The love of money is such a deadly root of evils that its seductive pull away from the faith stands first among the dangers that follow. This may help to explain the strong language of Ephesians 5:5, where Scripture calls a covetous person an idolater, and of Colossians 3:5, which declares covetousness to be idolatry. Granted, the word used there goes beyond the love of money spoken of here. Still, the love of money is at least part of that unsatisfied greed, which becomes an absorbing idolatrous passion that shuts out true homage to the true God.
The image is of a man running himself onto a blade. Notice that reaching the goal offers no protection.
The eager pursuit of money tends to pierce those devoted to it through with many pangs. In that case it is hard to avoid deceit here and pretence there, hard words and ways to one person and soft ones to another. It is hard to avoid taking selfish advantage of people and things and times, with no thought of heart or circumstances, and still less of Christ before God. Success inflicts the many pangs as well as failure. In fact the most successful have their disappointments as a rule, and all the sharper ones.
Scripture supplies its own case studies, and in each the damage spread beyond the man himself.
The covetousness of Achan, the desire to enrich himself with the spoil of Jericho, not only brought destruction on himself, but humiliation and trouble on Israel. The love of money led Judas to betray the Son of God, and brought Balaam to the King of Moab to advise him how to overcome God's people.
The chapter does not stop at diagnosis. It sorts readers into two groups, then says what to run from and what to run after.
On riches, two classes appear: those who are not rich but wish to be (verses 9–12), and those who are rich already (verses 17–19)… Money is not evil in itself. But the love of it is a root from which every evil may spring. The Apostle had seen some people whose covetousness led them away from the faith. They pierced themselves through with many sorrows. Anyone who would be a man of God must flee these things. He must follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience and meekness. And there is great need of such men.
- Root. The love of money is a root that can bear every kind of evil. It is not the only source of wrong. But any wrong may grow from it.
- Reversal. People treat money as a root of good things. God calls it a root of evils — evils that are real, not just possible.
- Rival. This appetite crowds God out. Scripture names covetousness idolatry, and faith is the first thing it costs you.
- Recoil. The wound is self-inflicted. The chase breeds deceit and hard dealing. Success brings its own disappointments, and the sharpest ones.
- Remedy. Flee it. Follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience and meekness. That is the call for the man of God, whether you want to be rich or already are.