a sacred dedication to God: property or a pledge declared off-limits to ordinary human use by a binding vow
TranslatabilityUntranslatableCertaintySettled
The word entered Greek directly from Aramaic and Hebrew, where it designated the broad category of cultic offerings brought near to God. In first-century Jewish practice, however, it had narrowed to a specific legal formula: declaring something "korban" ("it is an offering") placed it under sacred status and prohibited a named person from benefiting from it, even though ownership did not transfer to the Temple. The Jebel Ḥallet eṭ-Ṭûri ossuary inscription, dating to the time of Jesus, preserves exactly this formula over the contents of a tomb, warning would-be disturbers that everything inside is "a korban to God."
The two New Testament occurrences show the word's two faces. In Mark 7:11 it is the vow formula itself, the word a son might pronounce to shield his property from his parents' claim. Mark glosses it for Greek readers as δῶρον ("gift"), the same word the Septuagint used to render the Hebrew קָרְבָּן across Leviticus and Numbers. In Matthew 27:6 the declined form κορβανᾶν (accusative of κορβανᾶς) names the Temple treasury that housed the dedicated funds. The institutional treasury takes its name from the same concept: money consecrated as an offering to God.
Nuances
1aa binding vow formula that declares property consecrated to God and therefore unusable by a named person
Mrk 7:11
1bthe Temple treasury: the institutional chest that held money and property consecrated to God
carries the specific legal force of a binding vow formula that prohibits a named person from receiving any benefitMrk 7:11
Both
both refer to something consecrated to God and withdrawn from ordinary useMrk 7:11
Only Corban
the English transliteration conveys no meaning on its own and obscures the active legal prohibition the word imposed
“treasury”
Comparison data is not available for this English gloss yet.
How korban differs from similar Greek words
δῶρονa gift offered to God or another person: the ordinary Greek word for a votive or cultic gift, and the term Mark uses to explain korban to his Greek readers
a Semitic loanword that names a specific legal vow formula: once something is declared korban, it is irrevocably dedicated and cannot be redirected, even to support a parent in needMat 27:6
Both
both words can denote a votive offering dedicated to God, which is why Jesus can use them as synonyms in the same sentence when exposing the korban abuseMrk 7:11
covers the full range of giving, from ordinary human gifts to the gift of salvation itself, with no legal restriction on what can be given or receivedEph 2:8
used in sacrificial and priestly contexts as the general word for an offering brought to the altar, without implying a binding vow formulaHeb 8:3
A borrowed Aramaic word, foreign enough that Mark stops the story to translate it as "a gift to God".Mrk 7:11
Names a spoken declaration a person makes over their own property, putting it out of anyone else's reach, which Jesus attacks as a way of dodging the duty to support one's parents.Mrk 7:11
Carries the idea that the money is holy in itself, so the priests reason that blood money would defile it and may not be mixed in.Mat 27:6
Both
Both can name the temple's store of dedicated money, the fund gifts are paid into.Luk 21:1Mat 27:6
Both mark property handed over from a person's own use to God's, one by depositing it, the other by declaring it.Mrk 12:43Mrk 7:11
Names a physical spot inside the temple courts: somewhere a person can sit, watch other people, and teach.Mrk 12:41Jhn 8:20
Names the container gifts are dropped into, so the writers measure giving by what goes in and who put it there.Mrk 12:43Luk 21:1
An ordinary Greek word the writers use with no explanation, since any Greek reader already knows what a money store is.Luk 21:1
korban in the other biblical languages
קׇרְבָּןHebrew“offering”the Hebrew noun from the same root, covering every kind of cultic offering brought to God in the priestly system, and the direct source of the Greek loanword κορβᾶν
names a specific legal vow formula: declaring something korban makes it irrevocably dedicated to God, binding in a way that overrides even the duty to support one's parents, as Jesus exposes in the dispute over this practiceMrk 7:11
extended to name the temple treasury chest where dedicated funds were deposited, a specialized institutional sense the Hebrew term never carriesMat 27:6
Both
both words denote something set apart and brought near to God as a dedicated gift, the foundational act of presenting what belongs to God back to GodLev 1:2Mrk 7:11
covers the full range of the levitical offering system: burnt offerings, grain offerings, fellowship offerings, sin offerings, and guilt offerings brought to God, used as the governing term for the entire priestly sacrificial orderLev 1:2
encompasses routine, obligatory, and scheduled presentations to God, not only votive dedications, including the regular daily and festival offerings at the appointed timesNum 28:2
What scholars say about korban
The word κορβᾶν is a Greek transliteration of Aramaic/Hebrew קָרְבָּן, from the root meaning "to draw near." In the Hebrew Bible it is the most common and generic word for a cultic offering (Leviticus 1:2; Numbers 7). The Septuagint almost never transliterates it, preferring δῶρον, which means it re-enters Greek literature in the first century CE as a specialized legal term. Three pillars support the dominant scholarly reading of Mark 7:11: (1) Josephus uses the word for a binding vow of self-dedication as well as for the Temple treasury he calls κορβανᾶς (Antiquities 4.73; Against Apion 1.167; Jewish War 2.175); (2) the Aramaic Jebel Ḥallet eṭ-Ṭûri ossuary inscription (Herodian era, published by Fitzmyer in JBL 78 [1959]) shows the formula used as a prohibitive declaration over tomb contents; and (3) Mishnah Nedarim documents the formula as a vow mechanism and records in m. Ned. 9:1 that R. Eliezer allowed parental-honor grounds to annul such vows, a ruling the Sages eventually conceded. Moshe Benovitz (Kol Nidre, Brown Judaic Studies 315, 1998) gives the most precise legal analysis, distinguishing the dedicatory vow (which actually transferred property) from the prohibitive vow (which only created a use-prohibition). The key debate is whether Jesus attacked a real Pharisaic ruling (Baumgarten, Marcus, France, Yarbro Collins) or a marginal abuse the Pharisees would have rejected (E. P. Sanders). The ossuary evidence and the Damascus Document (CD 16:6-18) support the historical plausibility of the practice.
Where scholars disagree about korban
Whether the korban formula in Mark 7:11 reflects a real mainstream Pharisaic ruling or a fringe abuse the Pharisees themselves would have rejected.
majorityJesus attacked a genuine Pharisaic legal position that upheld the inviolability of korban vows even when they overrode the fifth commandment. The rabbinic permission to annul such vows for parental honor (m. Ned. 9:1) is a later development that vindicated Jesus's critique.; A. Baumgarten, "Korban and the Pharisaic Paradosis," JANES 16-17 (1984-85): 5-17; J. Marcus, Mark 1-8, Anchor Bible 27, Doubleday 2000, pp. 441-49; R. T. France, The Gospel of Mark, NIGTC, Eerdmans 2002, on 7:9-13; A. Yarbro Collins, Mark, Hermeneia, Fortress 2007, pp. 352-55
minorityThe Pharisees as a body would have agreed with Jesus; the Markan polemic caricatures a marginal abuse rather than mainstream Pharisaic teaching. Mechanisms for annulling korban vows that harmed parents were always available.; E. P. Sanders, Jewish Law from Jesus to the Mishnah, Trinity Press International 1990, pp. 55-57
In-depth research
This is a research paper, so it may be hard to read without scholarly background. It is useful if you want to dig even deeper into this word.
Sources
BDAG, s.v. κορβᾶν, p. 559lexicon
TDNT 3:860-66, K. H. Rengstorf, "korban, korbanas"dictionary
HALOT 3:1137, s.v. קָרְבָּןlexicon
J. A. Fitzmyer, "The Aramaic Qorban Inscription from Jebel Khallet et-Turi and Mk 7:11 / Mt 15:5," JBL 78 (1959): 60-65article
M. Benovitz, Kol Nidre: Studies in the Development of Rabbinic Votive Institutions, Brown Judaic Studies 315, Scholars Press 1998monograph
J. Marcus, Mark 1-8, Anchor Bible 27, Doubleday 2000, pp. 441-49commentary
A. Yarbro Collins, Mark, Hermeneia, Fortress 2007, pp. 341-55commentary
A. Baumgarten, "Korban and the Pharisaic Paradosis," JANES 16-17 (1984-85): 5-17article
E. P. Sanders, Jewish Law from Jesus to the Mishnah, Trinity Press International 1990, pp. 55-57monograph
R. T. France, The Gospel of Mark, NIGTC, Eerdmans 2002, on 7:9-13commentary
J. Milgrom, Leviticus 1-16, Anchor Bible 3, Doubleday 1991, pp. 145-48commentary