Mammon. Matt. 6:24. No one is able to serve two masters: for he will hate the one and will love the other, or he will be devoted to one and he will despise the other. You are not able to serve God and wealth. The Latin word Mammona is sometimes not translated, using the Latin spelling. Mammon is from a Hebrew word, Emonah, with an M prefix. The Greek text in Matt. 6:24 also has Mamona, which was not a Greek word. The Hebrew Mamone means believer, faithful, steadfast, referring to what is trusted in. In Matt. 6:24 it refers to anything coming between you and God. In the context of that verse, wealth fits, so the lexicons define Mammon as wealth or riches, but it really is deeper than that because whatever you put your faith in other than God makes it impossible for you to serve God. Someone’s faith can be in a person, talent, real estate, stock portfolio, job, fame, physical strength, or any number of other things.

That the word Mammon came from a Hebrew word is part of the evidence that the book of Matthew was originally written in Hebrew as many scholars believe.