Lucre

’Gain,’ such as a judge should not have wished for or accepted. 1Sa 8:3. In the N.T. it is called ’filthy’ or ’base gain:’ the desire for it rendered a man ineligible for the position of elder in the church, etc. 1Ti 3:3; 1Ti 3:8; Tit 1:7; Tit 1:11; 1Pe 5:2.

LUCRE.—The Eng. word ‘lucre’ is in AV [Note: Authorized Version.] always qualified by the adj. ‘filthy,’ because the word itself had not then the offensive meaning it has now. Erasmus speaks of God turning men’s wickedness ‘into the lucre and encreace of godlynesse.’ It simply meant gain. Filthy lucre means sordid gain.

lū´kẽr, lōō´kẽr (בּצע, becā‛; κέρδος, kérdos): Literally, “gain” (1Sa 8:3; Tit 1:7), hence, in the New Testament always qualified by “filthy” (1Ti 3:8, “not greedy of filthy lucre” (αἰσχροκερδής, aischrokerdḗs); so Tit 1:7). The adverb is found in 1Pe 5:2 (see also Tit 1:11). In 1Ti 3:3, the Revised Version (British and American) changes the King James Version to “no lover of money” (ἀφιλάργυρος, aphilárguros).