Category:Corban

Cor"ban, n. Etym: [Heb. qorban, akin to Ar. qurban.]

1. (Jewish Antiq.) An offering of any kind, devoted to God and therefore not be appropriated to any other use; esp., an offering in fulfillment of a vow.

Note: In the Old Testament the Hebrew word is usually translated "oblation" as in Numbers 18:9, Numbers 31:50.

Note: The traditionists laid down that a man might interdict himself by vow, not only from using for himself, but from giving to another, or receiving from him, some particular object, whether of food or any other kind. A person might thus exempt himself from assisting parents in distress, under plea of corban. Dr. W. Smith.

2. An alms basket; a vessel to receive gifts of charity; a treasury of the church, where offerings are deposited.

- ---excerpt from the Illustrated Bible Dictionary

Corban - A Hebrew word adopted into the Greek of the New Testament and left untranslated. It occurs only once (Mark 7:11). It means a gift or offering consecrated to God. Anything over which this word was once pronounced was irrevocably dedicated to the temple. Land, however, so dedicated might be redeemed before the year of jubilee (Leviticus 27:16). Our Lord condemns the Pharisees for their false doctrine, inasmuch as by their traditions they had destroyed the commandment which requires children to honor their father and mother, teaching them to find excuse from helping their parents by the device of pronouncing "Corban" over their goods, thus reserving them to their own selfish use.