Avarice

Avarice (covetousness, Hebrew betsa; Greek pleonexia) is the insatiable craving for more wealth or possessions — a vice Scripture treats as idolatry and the root of profound social and spiritual harm. The tenth commandment targets the desire itself: "You shall not covet your neighbor's house... wife... or anything that is your neighbor's" (Ex. 20:17), recognizing that external sin begins with disordered inner desire. Ecclesiastes diagnoses the avaricious person: "He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity" (Eccl. 5:10). The prophets connect avarice with oppression: Micah denounces those who covet fields and seize them (Mic. 2:2); Ezekiel charges Jerusalem with being consumed by greed (Ezek. 22:13–14). In the NT, Paul identifies covetousness as idolatry (Col. 3:5; Eph. 5:5), because it places created things in the position that God alone should occupy. Jesus warns: "Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions" (Luke 12:15), following immediately with the parable of the rich fool. The remedy is radical contentment: "Godliness with contentment is great gain" (1 Tim. 6:6; Phil. 4:11–12).