1 Timothy 6:9

οἱ δὲ βουλόμενοι : St. Chrysostom calls attention to the fact that St. Paul does not say, They that are rich, but They that desire to be rich (R.V.), they that make the acquisition of riches their aim. The warning applies to all grades of wealth: all come under it whose ambition is to have more money than that which satisfies their accustomed needs. We are also to note that what is here condemned is not an ambition to excel in some lawful department of human activity, which though it may bring an increase in riches, develops character, but the having a single eye to the accumulation of money by any means. This distinction is drawn in Proverbs 28:20 : “A faithful man shall abound with blessings: But he that maketh haste to be rich shall not be unpunished”.

ἐμπίπτουσιν. Wetstein notes the close parallel in the words of Seneca: “Dum divitias consequi volumus in mala multa incidimus” (Ep. 87). Cf. also James 1:2, πειρασμοῖς περιπέσητε ποικίλοις. πειρασμόν refers rather to the consequencess of one's money-grubbing spirit on others, παγίδα to its disastrous effect on one's own character.

ἀνοήτους καὶ βλαβεράς : The desires in question are foolish, because they cannot be logically defended; they are hurtful, because they hinder true happiness. See Proverbs 23:4, “Weary not thyself to be rich”.

αἵτινες : qualitative, such as.

βυθίζουσιν : The word is found in its literal signification in Luke 5:7. Moulton and Milligan (Expositor, vii., vi. 381) illustrate its use here from a papyrus of cent. 1 B.C., συνεχέσι πολέμοις καταβυθισθεῖ [σαν] τὴν πόλιν. Bengel notes on ἐμπίπτ. βυθίζ., “ incidunt: mergunt. Tristis gradatio.” We must not lose sight of εἰς. Destruction and perdition are not, strictly speaking, the gulf in which the men are drowned. The lusts, etc., overwhelm them; and the issue is destruction, etc. See reff. on ἀπώλειαν.