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.
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.
A root, not the only root
Commentators are careful with the wording. The claim is not that every wrong in the world can be traced back to cash.
F. B. HoleThe 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."
God's verdict against the world's
The verse turns the common view of money upside down.
William KellyThe 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 love of it, not the thing itself
The Greek word here is philarguria. It names an appetite that a profession of religion does not cure.
Morrish Bible DictionaryPhilarguria (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.
Why the faith is the first casualty
Of all the damage this root does, the pull away from faith comes first. That order points to what money becomes in a heart.
William KellyThe 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.
Wounds no one else inflicts
The image is of a man running himself onto a blade. Notice that reaching the goal offers no protection.
William KellyThe 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.
Three men who proved it
Scripture supplies its own case studies, and in each the damage spread beyond the man himself.
An Outline of Sound WordsThe 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.
What Paul tells us to do instead
The chapter does not stop at diagnosis. It sorts readers into two groups, then says what to run from and what to run after.
W. W. FeredayOn 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.
Summary
- 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.