MAMMON. This Name is properly Syriac, and signifies Riches. Our Saviour says, that we cannot at the same Time serve Matth. vi. 24. Luke xvi. 13.God and Riches; and that we ought not to make our selves Friends of Mammon, or of the Riches of Unrighteousness, that is to say, of worldly Riches, which are commonly the Instruments of Iniquity, and are acquired but too often by Ways of Unrighteousness and Iniquity. Some have asserted1, that Mammon signified the God of Riches, but there is no Proof of this Opinion. Matmon in Hebrew signifies concealed2, and Mammona Riches. Saint Austin observes3, that in the Punick or African Tongue, Mammona signifies Gain. Mammona apud Hebræos divitiæ appellari dicuntur. Congruit & Punicum nomen; nam lucrum Punicè Mammon dicitur.
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