KING JAMES BIBLE DICTIONARY

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 27:16-24). Our Lord condemns the Pharisees for their false doctrine, inasmuch as by their traditions they had destroyed the commandment which requires children to honour 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.

An oblation.
Mark 7:11

an offering to God of any sort, bloody or bloodless, but particularly in fulfillment of a vow. The law laid down rules for vows, (1) affirmative; (2) negative. (Leviticus 27:1; Numbers 30:1) ... Upon these rules the traditionists enlarged, and laid down that a man might interdict himself by vow, not only from using for himself, bur from giving to another or receiving from him, some particular object, whether of food or any other kind whatsoever. The thing thus interdicted was considered as corban . A person might thus exempt himself from any inconvenient obligation under plea of corban. It was practices of this sort that our Lord reprehended, (Matthew 15:5; Mark 7:11) as annulling the spirit of the law.

CORBAN, noun [Latin G., a wicker basket.]

1. In Jewish antiquity, an offering which had life; an animal offered to God; in opposition to the mincha, which was an offering without life.

It is a gift, corban by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; that is, I have devoted that to God which you ask of me, and it is no longer mine to give.

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

3. Among Mohammedans, a ceremony performed at the foot of mount Arrarat in Arabia, near Mecca. It consists in killing the number of sheep, and distributing them among the poor.