Corban

Corban is a transliterated Aramaic-Hebrew term meaning a gift dedicated to God. In its single UPDV occurrence the word names a vow that, in practice, was being used to short-circuit the obligation to support one's parents.

The Term Defined

The word appears with its own gloss inside the verse: "but you⁺ say, If a man will say to his father or his mother, That with which you might have been profited by me is Corban, that is to say, Given [to God]" (Mark 7:11). The bracketed [to God] is the UPDV's rendering of the implicit indirect object — the word "Corban" by itself simply means "given," and the speaker supplies the recipient.

The Tradition Confronted

The setting is a controversy over tradition versus commandment. The framing precedes the verse: "Full well do you⁺ reject the commandment of God, that you⁺ might keep your⁺ tradition. For Moses said, Honor your father and your mother; and, He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him die the death" (Mark 7:9-10).

Against that backdrop, the Corban-vow is described as a device by which a son declares his assets dedicated to God — and thereby withdraws them from the support of his parents. The chain of consequence runs straight: "you⁺ no longer allow him to do anything for his father or his mother; making void the word of God by your⁺ tradition, which you⁺ have delivered: and many such like things you⁺ do" (Mark 7:12-13).

What presents itself as devotion (a gift to God) is named instead as nullification of the fifth commandment. The pious-sounding label "Corban" does not change the moral substance of the act it covers.