Talk:Mammon

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I removed most of the "appearances of Mammon in popular culture." Basically, Mammon is all over the place in popular culture, and we should just keep this list short and sweet with the most significant cultural references, or it will become a repository for random fancruft. For instance, nobody would care that Mammon was the final boss in Holy Magic Century, the UK title of Quest 64 for the Nintendo 64, except devotees of that game. I kept references in The Simpsons, the Firefox and Netscape browsers, the movie Constantine (movie) and the Spawn (comics) references, as these are major and mainstream. I don't have the final word on this, but please don't add non-notable fancruft mentions back in. Mangojuicetalk 14:10, 13 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

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Interesting that 125.163.137.131's revision got undone - thought there was something different in the article :p. He had said: Mammon is a term, derived from the Bible, used to describe material wealth or greed, most often personified as a deity. The word itself is a transliteration from the Hebrew word "mammon" (מָמוֹן), which means "money." It is the dominant religion of the late 20th and 21st centuries; every use of a credit card is considered a prayer to Mammon, and the devout may be specially favoured with gift vouchers in the mail.

Would be great to see some references there if they exist anywhere past this page.


I have added a note on Carlyle under personification. Though the extent to which personification is the applicable term in this case, his use of Mammon was infamous and highly influential, so it seemed to deserve a mention. Artsfiend 14:17, 31 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Thanx dude, for keeping the Constantine reference! That was one of my edits when I realized they had left it out of the original popular culture list. Appreciated. =) ManofRenown87 20:11, 7 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Mammon lane?[edit]

Was "1000 Mammon Street" in the Montgomery Burns article. Ojw 17:59, 18 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]


It says that Mammon was used in The Craft...didn't they refer to "Manon", not Mammon...it even says Manon with the captions on...



...exists in German, too: see http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spezial:Search?search=Mammon

Maelstrom[edit]

There was an alien in the game Maelstrom(which nobody seems to have heard of)called Mammon. I wouldnt know how to add that into this article though so if someone could think of a place I would put in the details.

Etymology[edit]

It is somewhat suspect, particularly due to the lack of citations, to claim that Mammon is derived from the words Amon, and Amon-Ra from the egyptian mythology. Despite similar sounding, the meanings of the words were quite different, as Amon was concerned particularly with the sun, as a source of life, and Mammon is concerned primarily with money and greed, in a very negative sense.

I would be interested to see if any citations could be provided to support this claim.


—Preceding unsigned comment added by FraterNLST (talkcontribs) 04:26, 14 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

It was really nonsense, so I removed it... AnonMoos (talk) 04:59, 1 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

"Mammon" is an Aramaic word for money: Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, Hastings, James, ed.;New York, Scribners, 1908-1921. 12 vols. Raquel Baranow (talk) 23:46, 2 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]

reverted an obfuscatory change to the article lead per the general consensus on this page that mammon is "money" or "greed" --131.118.73.27 (talk) 05:34, 14 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

It's plain that in several Semitic dialects variations of the word refer to possessions, wealth. The crucial description at the end of paragraph 1 in "Etymology"; "....that in which one trusts.", gives a full meaning. "Security". Just as used nowadays. The root in Arabic, "Amn", deals much more with this aspect of security in a wider sense than wealth.SBader (talk) 22:29, 9 February 2018 (UTC)[reply]

The most competent remark in the page, thank you ! When I researched a little bit in 2020 I checked all "MAM- / MOM- / MUM-" and even many connected "MAL- / MOL- / MUL-" words ( diachronically it's /O/ to follow /U/ ) in here : https://www.lexilogos.com/english/syriac_dictionary.htm . There is yet much to research, semantically . . . That's "why" the quite proper conclusion here infra in "Proposed rewriting ...". raffaelemaria 31.157.85.146 (talk) 17:13, 28 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Prechristian Mammon[edit]

Mammon was a god before Jesus' sermon in which he didn't make it up on the spot. Why is this not even mentioned let alone the proper subject of the article? Erudecorp ? * 04:06, 8 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Mammon is Mama[edit]

The Goddess of Prosperity and Wealth, making the coins in her belly/bank increase at an incredible speed. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 213.114.27.253 (talk) 09:21, 26 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]

PS[edit]

And of course the Golden Galf is the Child of the Cow (Goddess) and Bull (God). —Preceding unsigned comment added by 213.114.27.253 (talk) 09:23, 26 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Mammon Definition = Money[edit]

What I wrote beloe was removed because I added a link to a pic in my website. How about if I remove the pic link and repost to the article?

Etymologically, the word is assumed to derive from Late Latin 'mammon', from Greek 'μαμμωνάς', Syriac 'mámóna' (riches), Aramaic 'mamon' (riches, money[1]), probably from Mishnaic Hebrew 'ממון (mmôn = money[2]).[3][4] Raquel Baranow (talk) 21:45, 5 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]
This is contradictory in itself to say it was a Sumerian diety, and that ethymologically it is derived from late Latin, Syriac etc.--178.48.69.17 (talk) 13:53, 28 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]
No it isn't! The word came from Greek into Latin, Syriac into Greek, etc. Jesus comes from Latin, yet he's a modern diety, etc. Mythpage88 (talk) 15:33, 28 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Dear Mythpage88! If Mammon is really derived from the name of a sumerian god or godess, (which is not supported by any significant citations, either) then ethimologically it should be derived first from the sumerian language, and only then through the other languages listed. (sumerian culture and language is older than all the others listed by you - http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/intro/atr/06sm.htm ) That's what I found a "contradiction". (By the way, how do you know, Jesus comes from Latin??? Look for citations, please!) --178.48.69.17 (talk) 20:12, 28 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]

In most etymologies Mammon is rendered meaning riches, as in the wealth as it is posessed. It seems fair to relate the etymology also to money. As this is understood in regard of a spiritual understanding, as an entity of mental proportions rather than the signified wealth, it becomes clear that it is the factor posessing wealth, riches or money, than what is owned in itself. Thus the concept is rather identical, even translateable to the concept of Capital; meaning the posession of the factors of production (rather than these factors in itself). I'd like to find substantiation of this from the ouvres of liberation theologists before putting it into the main article. Please help... --Xact (talk) 17:01, 10 October 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Bible quotes & locations are generally placed in italics & KJV reference[edit]

I added "KJV" to the quote from Matthew 6:19-21,24. Of course, it's worded differently in different translations/English versions. Also, Bible quotes and locations are generally placed in italics, so I added them. - Brad Watson, Miami (talk) 16:42, 25 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]

'Mammon' referenced in RSV & ICB[edit]

The Revised Standard Version (RSV) of the Bible explains "mammon is a Semetic word for money or riches." [ref>Bible - Revised Standard Verion (RSV), footnotes p6 NT Mt 6:24, Melton Book Company, 1971</ref] The International Children's Bible (ICB) uses the wording, "You cannot serve God and money at the same time."[ref>International Children's Bible p. 482 Mt 6:24 (Word Publishing, 2003)</ref] - Brad Watson, Miami (talk) 17:12, 25 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Proposed rewrite of etymology paragraph[edit]

Mammon derives from Late Latin 'mammon', from Greek 'μαμμωνάς', Syriac 'mámóna' (riches),[4] Aramaic 'mamon' (riches, money),[5][6] a loan word from Mishnaic Hebrew 'ממון (mmôn) meaning money,[7][8][9] wealth[10] or possessions;[11] although it may also have meant 'that in which one trusts'.[5] (Scholars are divided about the etymology.[5])

  1. ^ Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, Hastings, James, ed.;New York, Scribners, 1908-1921. 12 vols.
  2. ^ Webster's Online Dictionary, translated into english
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Winston was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ a b Webster's Dictionary of the English Language Unabridged: Publishers International Press, New York, 1977.
  5. ^ a b c Hastings, James, ed.; New York, Scribners, 1908-1921, Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, Volume 8:374
  6. ^ John Parkhurst, Edition 5, 1809, Oxford University, A Greek and English lexicon to the New Testament. To this is prefixed a Greek grammar, p414 (Aramaic = Chaldee)
  7. ^ Michael Sokoloff, JHU Press, Jan 3, 2003, A Dictionary of Jewish Babylonian Aramaic of the Talmudic and Geonic Periods, p.682
  8. ^ Translation and definition "ממון", Dictionary Hebrew-English online (Modern Hebrew)
  9. ^ Howard H. Covitz, PhD, March 30, 2000, Shabbos and Proper Nouns: "When scriptural translators chose not to translate ממון (mammon), this common Babylonian-exile word for money, they effectively neutered the Galilean’s admonition against idolizing riches, against wealth-worship, by thus-making scripture resonate with proscriptions against another transgression, against the worship of strange Gods."
  10. ^ Fernandez, Miguel Perez (1999). An Introductory Grammar of Rabbinic Hebrew. Brill. p. 5. ISBN 978-90-04-10904-9. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |Hebrew&hl= ignored (help)
  11. ^ R. T. France, 'God and Mammon' in The Evangelical Quarterly, Vol. 51 (Jan.-Mar. 1979), p. 9

Not sure why the references look bad (see ref #3 and duplicate of #1 & 5), I copy-pasted from my sandbox. Raquel_Baranow (talk) 20:53, 1 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Mexican "Mamón"[edit]

Here are the different definitions of the word "mamón" (Taken from the Royal Spanish Academy's site):http://lema.rae.es/drae/?val=mam%C3%B3n

None of them make any reference to Mammon. "Mamón" is a word derived from the verb "Mamar", which means "to suck (specifically while breastfeeding)". — Preceding unsigned comment added by 200.86.51.149 (talk) 03:31, 13 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Sources on the article: Mammon[edit]

The introduction of the article "Mammon" ends with "However, modern researchers claim Jesus was merely referring to Caesar as mammon, god of money, because it was Caesar who claimed to be a god - on the tax coin - the god of money.[1]"

The reference is cited as:"Who Would Jesus Tax?". Retrieved 8 December 2016. The link takes you to "whatistaxed.com" which appears to be a flaky anti-taxation site.

I believe this reference was inserted to promote anti-taxation propaganda.

I have no idea how to remove a reference, so I'm hoping this will catch someone's attention.

Thank you.

Maryanne in the Prairies (talk) 17:08, 14 February 2017 (UTC)[reply]

I thought I had deleted that before. Oh well, deleted it again. Ian.thomson (talk) 01:23, 15 February 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you, Ian. Maybe the person trying to insert their point of view is being persistent. Maryanne in the Prairies (talk) 23:25, 15 February 2017 (UTC)[reply]