Matthew 6:24

24 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

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Matthew 6:24 in Other Translations

King James Version (KJV)
24 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.
English Standard Version (ESV)
24 "No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
New Living Translation (NLT)
24 “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
The Message Bible (MSG)
24 "You can't worship two gods at once. Loving one god, you'll end up hating the other. Adoration of one feeds contempt for the other. You can't worship God and Money both.
American Standard Version (ASV)
24 No man can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
GOD'S WORD Translation (GW)
24 "No one can serve two masters. He will hate the first master and love the second, or he will be devoted to the first and despise the second. You cannot serve God and wealth.
Holman Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
24 "No one can be a slave of two masters, since either he will hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot be slaves of God and of money.
New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
24 "No one can serve two masters at the same time. He will hate one of them and love the other. Or he will be faithful to one and dislike the other. You can't serve God and Money at the same time.

Matthew 6:24 Meaning and Commentary

Matthew 6:24

No man can serve two masters
Whose orders are directly contrary to one another: otherwise, if they were the same, or agreed, both might be served; but this is rarely the case, and seldom done. This is a proverbial expression, and is elsewhere used by Christ, ( Luke 16:13 ) . The Jews have sayings pretty much like it, and of the same sense as when they say F23,

``we have not found that (twnxlwv ytvl hkwz Mda lk) , "any man is fit for two tables."''

And again F24,

``that it is not proper for one man to have two governments:''

their meaning is, that two things cannot be done together:

for, either he will hate the one, and love the other;
he will have less affection and regard to the one, than to the other; as the service or orders of the one, are less agreeable to him than the others;

or else he will hold to the one;
hearken to his commands, obey his orders, and abide in his service;

and despise the other;
show disrespect to his person, neglect his orders, and desert his service:

ye cannot serve God and mammon.
The word "mammon" is a Syriac word, and signifies money, wealth, riches, substance, and everything that comes under the name of worldly goods. Jerom says, that riches, in the Syriac language, are called "mammon"; and so the word is often used in the above senses, in the Chaldee paraphrases F25, and in the Talmudic writings; where F26 (twnwmm ynyd) , "pecuniary judgments", or causes relating to money affairs, in which were pecuniary mulcts, are opposed to (twvpn ynyd) , "judgment of souls", or causes relating to life and death. The account and interpretation Irenaeus F1 gives of the word, is very wide and foreign; who says, that

``Mammon, according to the Jewish way of speaking, which the Samaritans used, is one that is greedy, and would have more than he ought; but, according to the Hebrew language, it is called adjectively Mam, and signifies one that is gluttonous; that is, who cannot refrain himself from gluttony.''

Whereas it is not an Hebrew word, nor an adjective, but a substantive, and signifies riches; which are opposed to God, being by some men loved, admired, trusted in, and worshipped, as if they were God; and which is incompatible with the service of the true God: for such persons, whose hearts go after their covetousness, and are set upon earthly riches, who give up themselves to them, are eagerly and anxiously pursuing after them, and place their confidence in them; whatever pretensions they may make to the service of God, as did the Scribes and Pharisees, who are particularly struck at by this expression, both here and elsewhere, they cannot truly and heartily serve the Lord. "Mammon" is the god they serve; which word may well be thought to answer to Pluto, the god of riches, among the Heathens. The Jews, in Christ's time, were notorious for the love of "mammon"; and they themselves own, that this was the cause of the destruction of the second temple: the character they give of those, who lived under the second temple, is this:

``we know that they laboured in the law, and took care of the commandments, and of the tithes, and that their whole conversation was good; only that they (Nwmmh ta Nybhwa) , "loved the mammon", and hated one another without a cause F2.''


FOOTNOTES:

F23 Praefat. Celi Jaker, fol. 3. 1.
F24 Piske Tosephot Cetubot, art. 359.
F25 Vid. Targum Onkelos & Jon. in Gen. xiii. 13. & in Jud. v. 19. & in Prov. iii. 9. & in Isa. xlv. 13. & passim.
F26 Misn. Sanhed. c. 1. sect. 1. & c. 4. sect. 1.
F1 Adv. Haeres. l. 3. c. 8. p. 249.
F2 T. Hieros. Yoma, fol. 38. 3.

Matthew 6:24 In-Context

22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy,your whole body will be full of light.
23 But if your eyes are unhealthy,your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
24 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?
26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

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