Corban

Corban (Hebrew and Aramaic qorbān, from qārab, to draw near or offer) was a votive formula by which a person declared property or resources dedicated to God and therefore unavailable for other uses. The word appears in Mark 7:11, where Jesus cites it as an example of how the Pharisees and scribes used tradition to nullify the commandment of God. A person could declare the support their parents might expect from them to be corban — a gift devoted to God — and thereby legally exempt themselves from the obligation to honor father and mother, making the word of God void through human tradition.

The broader Old Testament background of qorbān is the offering brought near to God: the term appears throughout Leviticus and Numbers for various sacrificial gifts brought to the altar (Leviticus 1:2; 2:1). In its proper use it designated sincere devotion of material goods to divine service; in the abuse Jesus exposes, it had become a legal device for avoiding family obligations under a religious cover. The episode illustrates Jesus's distinction between the spirit and the letter of divine commands, and his critique of a religiosity that uses piety as a shield against moral obligation.