CORBAN (Heb. qorbān, Gr. κορβάν; Vulg. corban and corbona). - In Hebrew c., like its Akkadian counterpart qurbān, means “offering” or, according to its etymology, “presentation of a gift to God” (cf. Lev. 2:1, 4; 7:13; 9:7, 15; Num. 7:3; Ez. 40:43): the term occurs only in the three books cited, that is, in the legislation concerning worship. It was also Hellenized and used by Flavius Josephus (cf. Antiq. Iud., IV, 73).
In the rabbinic world c. also came to mean the formula of an oath by which it was declared that a given object or animal was consecrated to God. Once such a formula had been pronounced, the matter of the vow became unusable for profane purposes. From the Gospel (Mk. 7:11) we know that such a promise was often made by ungrateful children, who thus forbade their parents the use of desired objects. This practice was peculiar to the Jews. Flavius Josephus, indeed, notes that among the Tyrians “c.” vows or oaths were not recognized (Contra Ap., II, 175). By extension, c. also came to designate the place or receptacle containing monetary offerings; in practice, it was the Treasury of the Temple (Mt. 27:6; Flavius Josephus, Bell. Iud., II, 175).