1 TIMOTHY 6:10 A root or the root?
KJ21
For the love of money is the root of all evil; and while some have coveted after it, they have erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
ASV
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil: which some reaching after have been led astray from the faith, and have pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
AMP
For the love of money [that is, the greedy desire for it and the willingness to gain it unethically] is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves [through and through] with many sorrows.
AMPC
For the love of money is a root of all evils; it is through this craving that some have been led astray and have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves through with many acute [mental] pangs.
BRG
For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
CSB
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and by craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
CEB
The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Some have wandered away from the faith and have impaled themselves with a lot of pain because they made money their goal.
CJB
For the love of money is a root of all the evils; because of this craving, some people have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves to the heart with many pains.
CEV
The love of money causes all kinds of trouble. Some people want money so much that they have given up their faith and caused themselves a lot of pain.
DARBY
For the love of money is [the] root of every evil; which some having aspired after, have wandered from the faith, and pierced themselves with many sorrows.
DLNT
For the love-of-money is a root of all evils— aspiring-to which, some were led-astray from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains.
DRA
For the desire of money is the root of all evils; which some coveting have erred from the faith, and have entangled themselves in many sorrows.
ERV
The love of money causes all kinds of evil. Some people have turned away from what we believe because they want to get more and more money. But they have caused themselves a lot of pain and sorrow.
EHV
For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evils. By striving for money, some have wandered away from the faith and have pierced themselves with many pains.
ESV
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.
ESVUK
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.
EXB
[L For] The love of money ·causes [L is the root of] all kinds of evil. Some people have ·left [strayed/wandered from] the faith, because they wanted ·to get more money [L it], ·but they have caused themselves much sorrow [L and have pierced themselves with many pains].
GNV
For the desire of money is the root of all evil, which while some lusted after they erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
GW
Certainly, the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Some people who have set their hearts on getting rich have wandered away from the Christian faith and have caused themselves a lot of grief.
GNT
For the love of money is a source of all kinds of evil. Some have been so eager to have it that they have wandered away from the faith and have broken their hearts with many sorrows.
HCSB
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and by craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains.
ICB
The love of money causes all kinds of evil. Some people have left the true faith because they want to get more and more money. But they have caused themselves much sorrow.
ISV
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, in their eagerness to get rich, have wandered away from the faith and caused themselves a lot of pain.
PHILLIPS
For men who set their hearts on being wealthy expose themselves to temptation. They fall into one of the world’s traps, and lay themselves open to all sorts of silly and wicked desires, which are quite capable of utterly ruining and destroying their souls. For loving money leads to all kinds of evil, and some men in the struggle to be rich have lost their faith and caused themselves untold agonies of mind.
JUB
For the love of money is the root of all evil, which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
KJV
For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
AKJV
For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
LEB
For the love of money is a root of all evil, by which some, because they desire it, have gone astray from the faith and have pierced themselves with many pains.
TLB
For the love of money is the first step toward all kinds of sin. Some people have even turned away from God because of their love for it, and as a result have pierced themselves with many sorrows.
MSG
But if it’s only money these leaders are after, they’ll self-destruct in no time. Lust for money brings trouble and nothing but trouble. Going down that path, some lose their footing in the faith completely and live to regret it bitterly ever after.
MEV
For the love of money is the root of all evil. While coveting after money, some have strayed from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
MOUNCE
For a root of all kinds of evils is the love of money, by which some, by their craving, were led astray from the faith and have pierced themselves with many pains.
NOG
Certainly, the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Some people who have set their hearts on getting rich have wandered away from the Christian faith and have caused themselves a lot of grief.
NABRE
For the love of money is the root of all evils, and some people in their desire for it have strayed from the faith and have pierced themselves with many pains.
NASB
For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
NASB1995
For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
NCB
The love of money is the root of all evils, and in their desire for it some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many serious wounds.
NCV
The love of money causes all kinds of evil. Some people have left the faith, because they wanted to get more money, but they have caused themselves much sorrow.
NET
For the love of money is the root of all evils. Some people in reaching for it have strayed from the faith and stabbed themselves with many pains.
NIRV
Love for money causes all kinds of evil. Some people want to get rich. They have wandered away from the faith. They have wounded themselves with many sorrows.
NIV
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
NIVUK
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
NKJV
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
NLV
The love of money is the beginning of all kinds of sin. Some people have turned from the faith because of their love for money. They have made much pain for themselves because of this.
NLT
For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.
NMB
For covetousness is the root of all evil, which, when some followed after, they erred from the faith, and tangled themselves with many sorrows.
NRSV
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains.
NRSVA
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains.
NRSVACE
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains.
NRSVCE
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains.
NTE
The love of money, you see, is the root of all evil. Some people have been so eager to get rich that they have wandered away from the faith and have impaled themselves painfully in several ways.
OJB
For the ahavas hakesef (love of money) is the shoresh (root) of kol hara’ot (all evils), which some, craving, were thereby led away from the emunah [of Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach] and pierced themselves with many machovim (sorrows).
TPT
Loving money is a root of all evils. Some people run after it so much that they have given up their faith. Craving more money pushes them away from the faith into error, compounding misery in their lives!
RGT
For the desire of money is the root of all evil; for which some - while lusting after it - have erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
RSV
For the love of money is the root of all evils; it is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced their hearts with many pangs.
RSVCE
For the love of money is the root of all evils; it is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced their hearts with many pangs.
TLV
For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil—some, longing for it, have gone astray from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
VOICE
For the love of money—and what it can buy—is the root of all sorts of evil. Some already have wandered away from the true faith because they craved what it had to offer; but when reaching for the prize, they found their hands and hearts pierced with many sorrows.
WEB
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some have been led astray from the faith in their greed, and have pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
WE
Because people love money they do all kinds of wrong things. Some people have stopped believing in God because they want money so much. And it brings them many troubles.
WYC
For the root of all evils is covetousness, which some men coveting erred from the faith, and besetted them(selves) with many sorrows [and beset them with many sorrows].
YLT
for a root of all the evils is the love of money, which certain longing for did go astray from the faith, and themselves did pierce through with many sorrows;
One comment right up front: in Biblical interpretation “majority rules” isn’t a thing. First of all, there are many versions that are paraphrases; not translations taken directly from the original texts. I like paraphrases for getting additional sense, but don’t rely on them for authority. For that, I limit my scope to versions that are actually translations into English from the original texts.
On that score, I have in the last couple of years begun using the New English Translation quite a bit, and I find the scholarship of their footnotes to be a great aid to fuller understanding. They point out technicalities in the NT Greek and OT Hebrew that readers of the English who don’t have the education to readily access the original languages would miss.
So, here are their footnotes to the verse under examination:
“For the love of money is the root* of all evils.**
— I Tim. 6:10 NET”
* — This could be taken to mean “a root,” but the phrase “of all evils” clearly makes it definite. This seems to be not entirely true to life (some evils are unrelated to love of money), but it should be read as a case of hyperbole (exaggeration to make a point more strongly).
** — Many translations render this “of all kinds of evil,” especially to allow for the translation “a root” along with it. But there is no parallel for taking a construction like this to mean “all kinds of” or “every kind of.” The normal sense is “all evils.”
I think that the commentary about the quote being hyperbole is the escape hatch you’re looking for. The Greek is definitely “the” but that it’s hyperbole says you’re actually right: “in Real Life” money is “a” root of evil, but Paul employs the hyperbole to drive his assessment that, among the various roots of evil, money is The Root.
We use a similar construction in modern English when we say, “You da MAN!” OBVIOUSLY we don’t mean that the individual is the ONLY man, just that, in the circumstances, that individual has come through with some dominant attainment.
So, although money is a root of evil, it’s so pervasive that, here in 2022, Paul might say, “Money’s da ROOT!”