Verse 15
Beware of covetousness - Or rather, Beware of all inordinate desires. I add πασης , all, on the authority of ABDKLM-Q, twenty-three others, both the Syriac, all the Persic, all the Arabic, Coptic, Ethiopic, Armenian, Vulgate, all the Itala, and several of the primitive fathers.
Inordinate desires. Πλεονεξιας , from πλειον , more, and εχειν , to have; the desire to have more and more, let a person possess whatever he may. Such a disposition of mind is never satisfied; for, as soon as one object is gained, the heart goes out after another.
Consisteth not in the abundance - That is, dependeth not on the abundance. It is not superfluities that support man's life, but necessaries. What is necessary, God gives liberally; what is superfluous, he has not promised. Nor can a man's life be preserved by the abundance of his possessions: to prove this he spoke the following parable.
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