36.
He next saith, "Incline mine heart unto Thy testimonies, and not to covetousness" (ver. 36). This then he prayeth, that he may profit in the will itself. 1 ...But the Apostle saith, "Avarice is a root of all evils." 2 But in the Greek, whence these words have been rendered into our tongue, the word used by the Apostle is not pleonexia, which occurs in this passage of the Psalms; but philarguria, by which is signified "love of money." But the Apostle must be understood to have meant genus by species when he used this word, that is, to have meant avarice universally and generally by love of money, which is truly the root of all evils. 3 ...If therefore our heart be not inclined to covetousness, we fear God only for God's sake, so that He is the only reward of our serving Him. Let us love Him in Himself, let us love Him in ourselves, Him in our neighbours whom we love as ourselves, whether they have Him, or in order that they may have Him....
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[He says: "He useth here a Greek expression, from which covetousness generally may be understood, whereby every man seeketh more than is enough: for the word pl?on meaneth more, and ?xis signifieth having, being derived from the verb to have. It is therefore termed pleonexia, from having too much: a word which the Latin translators in this passage have variously rendered by emolument, utility, and avarice, which last is best."--C.] ↩
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1 Tim. vi. 10. ↩
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Gen. iii. 5. ↩
