Mammon. Mammon in the New Testament of the Bible is commonly thought to mean money, material wealth, or any entity that promises wealth, and is associated with the greedy pursuit of gain. The Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke both quote Jesus using the word in a phrase often rendered in English as You cannot serve both God and mammon. In the Middle Ages it was often personified as a deity and sometimes included in the seven princes of Hell. Mammon in Hebrew means money. The word Mammon comes into English from post-classical Latin mammona 'wealth', used most importantly in the Vulgate Bible. The spelling ᾷ refers to a Syrian deity, god of riches; Hence riches, wealth; ᾶ is transliterated from Aramaic and also means wealth. However, it is not clear what the earlier history of the Aramaic form is. According to the Textus Receptus of the New Testament, the Greek word translated Mammon is spelled ᾷ in the Sermon on the Mount at Matt. 6:24, and ᾶ in the Parable of the Unjust Steward at Luke 16:9,11,13. The 27th edition of the popular Critical Text of the New Testament has ᾶ in all four places with no indication of any textual variances, thereby ignoring the Textus Receptus reading at Matt. 6:24. The Liddell and Scott Lexicon has a listing for each spelling, indicating that each occurs only in the New Testament, nowhere else in ancient and Hellenistic Greek literature. The spelling ᾷ refers to a Syrian deity, god of riches; Hence riches, wealth; ᾶ is transliterated from Aramaic and also means wealth. The Authorised Version uses Mammon for both Greek spellings; John Wycliffe uses richessis. The Revised Standard Version of the Bible explains it as a Semitic word for money or riches. The International Children's Bible uses the wording You cannot serve God and money at the same time. Christians began to use mammon as a pejorative, a term that was used to describe gluttony, excessive materialism, greed, and unjust worldly gain. Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon; Matthew 6:19-21, 24 Early mentions of mammon allude to the Gospels, e.g., Didascalia, De solo Mammona cogitant, quorum Deus est sacculus; and Saint Augustine, Lucrum Punice Mammon dicitur. Gregory of Nyssa also asserted that Mammon was another name for Beelzebub. In the 4th century Cyprian and Jerome relate mammon to greed and greed as an evil master that enslaves, and John Chrysostom even personifies mammon as greed. During the Middle Ages, Mammon was commonly personified as the demon of wealth and greed. Thus Peter Lombard says, Riches are called by the name of a devil, namely Mammon, for Mammon is the name of a devil, by which name riches are called according to the Syrian tongue. Piers Plowman also regards Mammon as a deity. Nicholas de Lyra, commenting on the passage in Luke, says: Mammon est nomen daemonis. Albert Barnes in his Notes on the New Testament states that Mammon was a Syriac word for an idol worshipped as the god of riches, similar to Plutus among the Greeks, but he cited no authority for the statement.