Albert Barnes Commentary 1 Timothy 6:10

"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." — 1 Timothy 6:10 (ASV)

For the love of money is the root of all evil. That is, of all kinds of evil. This is evidently not to be understood as literally true, for there are evils which cannot be traced to the love of money—the evils growing out of ambition, intemperance, debasing lusts, and the hatred of God and goodness.

The expression here is evidently a popular saying: "all sorts of evils grow out of the love of money." Similar expressions often occur in classical writers. (See Wetstein, on this passage, and numerous examples quoted by Pricaeus.)

No one can doubt the truth of this. A significant portion of the world's crimes can be traced to the love of gold. However, it should be noted here that the apostle does not say that "money is the root of all evil," or that it is an evil at all. It is the 'love' of it which is the source of evil.

Which while some coveted after. That is, some who were professing Christians. The apostle is, doubtless, referring to persons whose history was known to Timothy, and warning him, and teaching him to warn others, by their example.

They have erred from the faith. The marginal reading is, been seduced. The Greek means, they have been led astray from; that is, they have been so deceived as to depart from the faith.

The notion of deception or delusion is in the word, and the sense is that, deceived by the promises held out by the prospect of wealth, they have apostatized from the faith. It is not necessarily implied that they were ever real Christians. They have been led away from truth and duty, and from all the hopes and joys which religion would have imparted.

And have pierced themselves through with many sorrows. With such sorrows as remorse, painful reflections on their folly, and the apprehension of future wrath. Too late they see that they have thrown away the hopes of religion for that which is, at best, unworthy of an immortal mind's pursuit; which leads them to a life of wickedness; which fails to impart what it promised even when its pursuit is successful; and which, in the great majority of instances, disappoints its devotees regarding its attainment.

The word translated "pierced themselves through"—periepeiran—occurs nowhere else in the New Testament and is a word whose force and emphasis cannot be well expressed in a translation. It is from peirō, and is made more emphatic by the addition of the preposition peri. The word peirō (or peiro) properly means to pierce through from one end to another and is applied to meat that is pierced through by the spit when it is to be roasted (Passow); then it means to pierce through and through.

The addition of the preposition (peri) to the word conveys the idea of doing this all around, of piercing everywhere. It was not a single thrust that was made, but they are gashed all round with penetrating wounds. Such is the effect on those who cast off religion for the sake of gold. No one can avoid these consequences who does this. Every person is in the hands of a holy and just God, and sooner or later they must feel the effects of their sin and folly.