<p>6:10 <i>For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil- </i>We could read the &quot;all&quot; literally, as if all evil can be traced back to a love of wealth. Or we can read these &quot;kinds of evil&quot; as referring to the &quot;many foolish and hurtful lusts&quot; of :9 which arise directly or indirectly from a desire for wealth. In the context of Ephesus, Paul's reference to love of wealth would apply to the women / sisters receiving money for sexual services to brothers, taken under cover of spirituality from the widows' relief fund. &quot;Love of money&quot; is literally 'love of silver'. Again in the context of Ephesus, we recall that the images of Diana were made of silver; and it was the guild of silversmiths who raised the persecution against the early church in Ephesus and sought to have Christianity banned. Their literal love of silver led them to &quot;all kinds of evil&quot;. But those materialistic ones <i>within </i>the church were in essence no better than those in the world outside who were persecuting them.</p><p><i>Which some, by seeking for, have been led astray from the faith, and have pierced</i><i> themselves through with many sorrows</i>- The Greek translated &quot;pierced themselves through&quot; is related to the verb 'to crucify'. We are asked to crucify ourselves, to give up the brief materialism of this life. Yet if we refuse to do this, we still pierce ourselves through, we crucify ourselves, with the pain which comes from a mind dedicated to materialism and self-fulfilment, a life devoted to reaching the end of a rainbow. So what is the logical thing to do? It's crucifixion either way. The idea of piercing self through with sorrow is actually a direct quote from the LXX of 1 Kings 21:27, where Ahab was pierced with sorrow as a result of his coveting of Naboth&rsquo;s vineyard. And yet when Naboth was dead, Ahab tore his clothes and put on sackcloth, in sorrow for what he had done (1 Kings 21:16 LXX- omitted in the AV); but these very words are used in describing how when Ahab heard the words of his condemnation, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth (21:27). His sin brought him to tear his clothes, just as he did when his condemnation was pronounced. In his seeking for happiness he pierced himself through with the sorrow of condemnation. Quite simply, people who are bent on getting wealthy are not happy. Wealth</p>