'The love of money' — 1 Timothy 6:10 in its full passage

What gets cited

The most common standalone form, almost always in the misquoted version:

Money is the root of all evil.

The actual verse (1 Timothy 6:10, BSB):

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. By craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.

The misquotation drops “the love of,” changes “a root” to “the root,” and removes “of all kinds of.” For the verse-level discussion, see our entry on the misquotation.

The full surrounding passage

1 Timothy 6:6–19 (BSB) — we give the full passage so the framing is visible.

6 Of course, godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, so we cannot carry anything out of it. 8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these. 9 Those who want to be rich, however, fall into temptation and become ensnared by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. By craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows. 11 But you, O man of God, flee from these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made the good confession before many witnesses. 13 I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who made the good confession in His testimony before Pontius Pilate, 14 to keep this commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 which the blessed and only Sovereign — the King of kings and Lord of lords — 16 will bring about in His own time. He alone is immortal and dwells in unapproachable light. No one has ever seen Him, nor can anyone see Him. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen. 17 Instruct those who are rich in the present age not to be conceited and not to put their hope in the uncertainty of wealth, but in God, who richly provides all things for us to enjoy. 18 Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and ready to share, 19 treasuring up for themselves a firm foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.

What the full passage frames that the verse alone does not

The opening: an alternative definition of gain

Verse 6 opens with a paradox: “godliness with contentment is great gain.” The Greek word porismos (πορισμός) — translated “gain” — is the same noun that appears in verse 5 (omitted from the citation above), where Paul has just been speaking critically of those who suppose that “godliness is a means of gain” — i.e., who treat religion as a way to get rich.

Paul flips the term in verse 6: there is great gain in godliness — but it consists of contentment, not material profit. The argument that follows about wealth and the love of money is grounded in this redefinition of “gain.”

The English word “contentment” renders the Greek autarkeia (αὐταρκεία) — “self-sufficiency, satisfaction with one’s own resources.” The same word group appears in Philippians 4:11 (“I have learned to be content”).

Verses 7–8: the minimalist baseline

Verses 7–8 establish a minimalist baseline:

• We brought nothing into the world; we will carry nothing out.
• Food and clothing are sufficient for contentment.

This is not the language of asceticism or vow of poverty; it is the language of recognising that material goods do not transfer beyond the present life. The famous “the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” verse follows from this baseline.

Verses 9–10: the warning

Verses 9–10 contain the warning. The verb structure is important: those who want to be rich (Greek: boulomenoi ploutein) — those whose desire is set on becoming rich — are the ones who fall into temptation and ruin. Verse 10 then names the love of money (philargyria, φιλαργυρία, “love-of-silver”) as a root of all kinds of evil.

The warning is structured around dispositions: wanting to be rich, loving money. It is not a warning against possessing money or having wealth; it is a warning about the orientation of desire.

Verses 11–16: the alternative path

Verses 11–16 describe what Timothy is to pursue instead — not poverty or asceticism, but a different set of qualities (righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, gentleness) and a different commission (“fight the good fight of the faith”).

Verses 17–19: the instruction to the wealthy

Verse 17 returns to the topic of wealth — but with a different audience and a different tone. The instruction is for “those who are rich in the present age.” Note what the instruction does and does not say:

The instruction does not say: Give all your money away. Stop being rich. Sell everything.

The instruction says: Do not be conceited. Do not put your hope in the uncertainty of wealth. Do good. Be rich in good deeds. Be generous and ready to share. Lay up a foundation for what is truly life.

This is practical instruction for managing wealth as a steward — not a programme of divestment. It assumes the existence of wealthy believers and gives them a direction for their wealth.

The shape of the full argument

When the entire passage is read as a unit, the shape of the argument is clear:

1. True gain redefined (vv. 6–8) — contentment, not material accumulation
2. Warning to those who want to be rich (vv. 9–10) — desire for wealth as a spiritual danger
3. Alternative pursuit for Timothy (vv. 11–16) — the qualities and commission of pastoral life
4. Instruction to the already-wealthy (vv. 17–19) — generosity and right orientation, not divestment

The famous verse (v. 10) sits in step 2. The standalone misquote (“money is the root of all evil”) collapses the entire argument into a single proposition that the surrounding text does not actually make.

What this entry does not do

We are not arguing for a particular Christian position on wealth. The full passage of 1 Timothy 6:6–19 is consistent with multiple stewardship frameworks; the text frames a balance between warning against love-of-money and practical instruction for the wealthy without prescribing a single application. Different Christian traditions have organised the passage differently. We document what the passage says and let the application be the reader’s.

For the verse-level entry on the misquotation, see our entry on “Money is the root of all evil”.