Language Studies

Aramaic Thoughts

The Problem of Corban - Part 1

In Mark 7:11 (the parallel passage is Matthew 15:5), Jesus critiques the Pharisees regarding their treatment of the Law. The Fifth Commandment commands them to honor their father and mother. But if a man tells his parents, “whatever you would have gained from me is Corban (that is, given to God),” then in the view of the Pharisees he has absolved himself from his responsibility to his parents regarding that offering. The passage in Matthew omits the Aramaic term “korban,” but it is clearly the parallel. The question raised here is what the term “korban” refers to.

The initial origin of the term is clearly the Old Testament. There is a Hebrew term “qurban” that occurs a number of times in the Old Testament, primarily in Leviticus and Numbers. It is used in Leviticus 1:2 for example to refer to an animal brought as a sacrificial offering: “when any of you brings an offering (qurban) to the Lord, you shall bring your offering (qurban) of livestock from the herd or from the flock.” In Leviticus 2:1, it refers to an offering brought as a grain sacrifice: “When anyone brings a grain offering (minchah) as an offering (qurban) to the Lord, his offering shall be of fine flour.” It is used in Numbers 31:50 to refer to items that include precious metals and gems: “And we have brought the Lord’s offering (qurban), what each man found, articles of gold, armlets and bracelets, signet rings, earrings, and beads.” In Ezekiel, the word is used in the same sort of contexts as it is in Leviticus. Finally, “qurban” occurs in Nehemiah 10:35 (10:34 in the English versions) and 13:31 in reference to the wood offering for the temple. However, in those two places the “qurban” is specified to be wood.

This survey of the uses of the Hebrew word “qurban” in the Old Testament is helpful in showing us that the word had simply a generalized reference to any sort of offering in the Old Testament period. Ultimately, however, it does not help us in determining the meaning of the Aramaic term “corban” as it appears in Mark, since in this latter context, the word has clearly acquired a specific technical sense that the Hebrew word did not have in the Old Testament period. Thus commentators have traditionally looked to statements made by Josephus, and to comments made in later rabbinic sources to explain the sense of “corban” in Mark 7:11. Thus Edersheim comments, based on later rabbinic sources the Qorban was such a stringent ordinance that “it is expressly stated that such a vow was binding, even if it involved a breach of the Law” (The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, Hendrickson, 1993).

Thus it seems to be the case that the idea of “qurban” (or korban, or qorban, or corban) had developed from the simple identification of items offered to a very strict idea of a votive offering from which neither the one making the vow, nor those who might otherwise have benefited from that which was vowed, could receive any advantage or profit. But the question remains, was that idea, which is clearly present in the later rabbinic sources, true at the time of the New Testament? Edersheim certainly seems to think so, but are there sources contemporary to the New Testament that would validate this understanding, or perhaps correct it? The answer to those questions must wait until our next column.

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