6:9a

Those who want to be rich: When Paul referred to Those who want to be rich, he was referring to people, like the false teachers, who wanted to be rich more than they wanted to follow God.

however: The Greek particle de connects 6:8 and 6:9. In this context, this particle indicates that there is a contrast between these two verses. The contrast is between those who are content (6:8) and those who want to become rich (6:9). The Berean Standard Bible translates this with the word however. If in your language you have a way to show this contrast, you should use it to connect these verses.

6:9b

fall into temptation: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as fall into temptation is a figure of speech. It means to give in to temptation, that is, when a person is tempted to do something wrong, they choose to do the wrong thing and so sin.

become ensnared: This is another figure of speech. Paul had used the metaphor of a snare already, in 3:7c. He also used it in 2 Timothy 2:26. The desire to be rich is like a snare or trap that catches an animal. The person caught in such a trap cannot get free by himself.

6:9c

many foolish and harmful desires: There are two ways to understand this phrase:

(1) This is a third trap into which the people who want to become rich fall.

(New International Version (2011 Revision), Revised Standard Version, King James Version, New American Standard Bible, Revised English Bible, NET Bible)

(2) This is what the trap mentioned in 6:9b consists of. For example, the Good News Translation says:

the trap of many foolish and harmful desires

(Berean Standard Bible, Good News Translation, New Jerusalem Bible, Contemporary English Version, God’s Word, New Revised Standard Version, New Century Version, New Living Translation (2004 Revision))

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1).

foolish…desires: People who want to become rich also have many foolish…desires, that is, they start to want things that are wrong, unwise, and sinful. This is what happens to people when they want to become rich more than they want to follow God.

harmful desires: The desires that these people have are not only foolish, but also harmful. They want to do things that could hurt or damage themselves or other people.

6:9d

that plunge them into ruin and destruction: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as plunge means to push someone or something under water. Paul was using a figure of speech here. He meant that the desires of 6:9c often cause overwhelming ruin and destruction. In some languages, it may be necessary to remove the figure of speech and translate only the meaning. One way to do this is:

that cause people to be ruined and destroyed

ruin and destruction: Scholars interpret these two words in different ways:

(1) They say that both words refer to suffering on this earth. (Moore, page 55, classifies this as a synonymous doublet.)

(2) They say that ruin refers to suffering before death and destruction refers to suffering after death, in hell.
Either interpretation is possible and it is recommended that you translate them in as general a way as possible.

These two words translated ruin and destruction mean almost the same thing. In some languages it may be necessary to combine these two terms into one expression. For example:

absolute ruin

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All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible. BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.