| 释义 |
Mammon|ˈmæmən|
Also 4, 6 Mammona, 6 mammonde, mammony.
[a. late L. ma(m)mōna masc. (Vulg.), ma(m)mon (Diefenb.), a. Gr. (N.T.) µαµωνᾶς (late texts µαµµωνᾶς), a. Aramaic māmōn, māmōnā riches, gain (frequent in the Targums). Hence also Syriac måmūnå, Goth. mammōna wk. masc., mod.F. mammon, mammone.
The N. T. phrase µαµωνᾶς τῆς ἀδικίας (Eng. version ‘mammon of unrighteousness’; earlier versions, ‘mammon of iniquity’, ‘wicked mammon’, etc.) represents exactly the Aramaic māmōn di-r'shaﻋ, ‘riches or gain of wickedness’ (Targ. Hab. ii. 9), and approximately the more common māmōn di-sh'qar, ‘riches of falsehood’.]
1. The Aramaic word for ‘riches’, occurring in the Greek text of Matt. vi. 24 and Luke xvi. 9–13, and retained in the Vulgate. Owing to the quasi-personification in these passages, the word was taken by mediæval writers as the proper name of the devil of covetousness. This use appears in English in the 14–16th c., and was revived by Milton (P.L. i. 678, ii. 228). The word does not occur in the N.T. translations of Wyclif and Purvey (who substitute richessis), but it was used by Tindale (1526–34) and subsequent translators, with the exception of those of the Geneva version. From the 16th c. onwards it has been current in English, usually with more or less of personification, as a term of opprobrium for wealth regarded as an idol or as an evil influence.
1362Langl. P. Pl. A. ix. 81 He..with Mammonas moneye hath maked him frendes. 1502Ord. Crysten Men (W. de W. 1506) ii. xi. 117 A deuyll named Mammona made unto the couetous man .vi. commaundementes. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 281 b, No persone may serue god eternal, & also y⊇ mammonde of iniquite, which is golde & syluer & other rychesse. 1530Latimer Let. to Hen. VIII in Foxe A. & M. (1563) 1346/1 Thys wycked Mammon, the goodes of thys worlde, whyche is their God. 1618Bp. Hall Right. Mammon 64 The foolish Siluer-smiths may shout out, Great is Mammon of the worldlings. 1620T. Granger Div. Logike 102 He is the slaue of muddy Mammon. 1683Tryon Way to Health xix. (1697) 418 Miserly Parents sacrificing their Children to Mammon is a wretched Idolatry. 1732Pope Ep. Bathurst 171 Who sees pale Mammon pine amidst his store. 1773Observ. State Poor 49 Eyes fascinated by Mammon the god of this world. 1781Cowper Charity 45 Mammon makes the world his legatee Through fear, not love. 1836Keble Dissent ii. in Lyra Apost., A creed..By Mammon's touch new moulded o'er and o'er.
b. Sometimes jocularly for ‘money’.
1706E. Ward Wooden World Diss. (1708) 101 While his Mammon lasts, he's a mad Fellow.
2. attrib. and Comb., as mammon gospel, Mammon worship, Mammon worshipper; mammon-blinded, Mammon worshipping adjs.
1826E. Irving Babylon II. 413 We..are now a Mammon-worshipping people. 1843Carlyle Past & Pr. iii. ii, We..with our Mammon-Gospel, have come to strange conclusions. Ibid., Verily Mammon-worship is a melancholy creed. Ibid. iv. viii, When Mammon-worshippers here and there begin to be God-worshippers. 1851Kingsley Yeast vi. 108 However Mammon-blinded, he was kindly and upright. 1899W. R. Inge Chr. Mysticism viii. 317 The sweet influences of the home deprive even mammon-worship of half its grossness. |