Testament of Judah 18
Testament of the Twelve PatriarchsAnd I know what evils ye will do in the last days. Beware, therefore, my children, of fornication, and the love of money, and hearken to Judah your father. For these things withdraw you from the law of God, And blind the inclination of the soul, And teach arrogance, And suffer not a man to have compassion upon his neighbour They rob his soul of all goodness, And oppress him with toils and troubles, And drive away sleep from him, And devour his flesh. And he hindereth the sacrifices of God; And he remembereth not the blessing of God, He hearkeneth not to a prophet when he speaketh, And resenteth the words of godliness. For he is a slave to two contrary passions, And cannot obey God, Because they have blinded his soul, And he walketh in the day as in the night.
1 Timothy 6:10
6 Now godliness combined with contentment brings great profit. 7 For we have brought nothing into this world and so we cannot take a single thing out either. 8 But if we have food and shelter, we will be satisfied with that. 9 Those who long to be rich, however, stumble into temptation and a trap and many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 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.
Notes and References
"... Placing the parables of the Rich Fool and Lazarus and the Rich Man in close proximity also invites readers to consider whether the man in 12:16–21 neglects to care for the poor. Such a question becomes common throughout the parable’s history of interpretation ... On several occasions Cyprian utilizes the parable, like Clement and Cassian, as a warning against luxury and greed. After citing 1 Timothy 6:10 - “for lust of money is the root of all evil”8—he refers to Luke 12:20 to aver that riches are the “root of seductive evils” ... Although François Bovon follows Jülicher and others in describing the parable as “une histoire exemplaire,” he acknowledges the importance of wisdom parallels and identifies specific aspects of the parable as having their “equivalent” in Hebrew and Jewish wisdom. He cites several such parallels (in a footnote) to show that Luke 12:15 and 16–21 fit into Israel’s “wisdom tradition.” (These include Psalm 49:7, 11, 17–20; Sirach 11:18–19; Testament of Judah 18–19; 1 Enoch 94:6–11; 97:8–10; James 5:1–6. He also refers to the beatitude and woe in Luke 6:20, 24 and “all the Lucan texts on riches.”) ..."
Rindge, Matthew S. Jesus’ Parable of the Rich Fool: Luke 12:13-34 among Ancient Conversations on Death and Possessions (pp. 10-11, 31-32) Society of Biblical Literature, 2011