Reland has obferved, not with his usual Accuracy, "That † All Oblations which

were confecrated to God by certain Rites "appointed by him, and were confumed, "are called by the general name of Cor"banoth. These when they confifted of "Animals, or of Meal, or Oil, Wine, "and Frankincense, are divided into Two

Species, viz. Bloody Oblations, which " has commonly obtained the name of Sacrifices; the unbloody ones are called "Meat or Drink Offerings."

1.

It is certainly true, that the general word, Corban, comprehends Both thefe Species of Oblations, See Lev. i. 1. —ii. But then it is true too, that Corban fometimes fignifies at large, a Gift, fuch a one as is spoken of Mark vii. II. where it extends to many other things befides Sacrifices. Ufe had made it fignify a

+ Omnes Oblationes quæ fecundum Voluntatem Dei certis ritibus ei facratæ confumebantur, generali nomine Corbanoth appellabantur. Hæ cum vel ex Animalibus conftent, vel ex farina, Oleove, Vino et Thure, in duas fpecies difpefcuntur; quarum illa, fcilicet cruenta Obiationes, Sacrificiorum nomen vulgo accepit; hæc vero fcilicet incruentæ, Fertorum et Libaminum. Reland Antiq. p. 278.

I

Sacred

Sacred Gift, or a Gift to God: and tho' it be rendered by a general word A@gov, or Gift; yet the circumftances of the Paffages where it fo occurs fhew, that it means only fuch Gifts as belong to God. In like manner there were Perfons who*

voluntarily devoted themselves to the "Service of God, and called themselves "Corban. Thefe if they defired to be "discharged from that Miniftry, whether they were Men or Women, were to pay a certain price; a Woman Thirty, a Man Fifty Sicles." So Jofephus ; who obferves that Corban fignifies Δῶρον . in Greek. And fo St. Mark: If a Man fhall fay to bis Father or Mother, it is Corban, that is to fay a Gift, by whatsoever thou mayeft be profited, c. vii. 11. He alludes to a common practice among the Jews of confecrating, or giving to the use of the Temple, Gifts or Donations, which might have been ferviceable to their indigent Parents, had they not

* Καὶ οἱ Κορβᾶν ἀλλὲς ὀνομάζοντας τῷ θεῷ· Δῶρον δὲ τότε σημαίνει κατὰ Ἑλλήνων γλώτταν. Ευλομένος ἀφίεθαι τῆς λελεργίας τοῖς ἱερουσι καταβάλλειν ἀργύριον, γυναικα μεν τριάκοντα σίκλους, άνδρα δὲ πεντήκοντα. Jofep. Ant. l. iv. c. 4.

obliged

obliged themselves by Vows or Promise to part with them for hely Ufes; and under this Cover they too often excufed themfelves from fuccouring Father or Mother. But this only fhews that Corban is not: properly Δώρον, but ἱερὸν δῶρον, or a Sacred Gift; a word of much larger Extent than what is meant by Sacrifice.

Another General word made ufe of by the Jews for Sacrifices is 2, which fignifies properly Gifts, and is as general as the English word, Gift. Accordingly it is ufed for Gifts given by God to Men, or by Men to God, or by Men to one another. Thus, Unto the Sons of the Concubines which Abraham bad, Abraham gave Gifts, Gen. xxv. 6. It is applied to the Heave Offerings and Wave Offerings of the Children of Ifrael, Numb. xviii. 11. and these are called their Gift. In Ecclefiaftes c. i. 13. it is ufed for the Gift of God to Man- Every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all bis Labours, it is the Gift of God. This word then is of a much greater Extent, and more comprehenfive than Corban, and is interpreted by the LXX. Aópa,

and

and fometimes Apor: and means any Gift, in general; whereas Corban is only applied to a Gift to God.

There is a Third word, which is almost always applied to certain Gifts to God, yet not fo univerfally but that it fometimes means Gifts to Men. It is 7, Therumah. The first Gifts which the Children of Ifrael prefented unto God in the Wilderness, and which were defigned for the Ufe or Ornament of the Tabernacle, as well as for the Building of it, whether they were of Metals, or precious Stones, or Skins of Beafts, or curious Colours, whatever was proper for this purpofe that was offered willingly, went under this name. It is highly probable, that they had this name from their being moved upwards and downwards at their donation to the Lord of all. The LXX. have tranfated this word by ἀπαρχὰς, Firft-fruits, Exod. xxv. 2, 3. The Things that were given, Gold and Silver, and Brass, and Blue, and Purple, and Scarlet, and fine linnen, and Goatshair, &c. fhew plainly, that this Offering to the Lord was not the First-fruits

of

of the Earth, (which awapxài ufually fignifies) but it was the beginning of the Jews Oblations to God, and from thence it had that name. Sometimes this word is tranflated by 'EQopà, a Tribute to the Lord. A half Shekel fhall be the Offering of the Lord, Exod. xxx. 13. i. e. a Tribute which every one of the children of Ifrael, that paffeth among those that are numbered, was to pay unto the Lord. At other times it is tranflated apaípeμa, and ¿ópiaμa; we render it a Wave Offering. The LXX. keep to the Idea, not fo much of a Gift, as of what is feparated or taken from mens own Property; without regarding the defign of fuch Separation. In the Book of Proverbs we find this word used in the Senfe of a Tribute, tho' we tranflate it, Gifts. The King by Judgment ftablisbeth the Land, but be that receiveth Gifts (it is the Original, A man, Therumoth) overthroweth it, Exod. xxix. 4. The Wife man means, a great Exactor of Tributes, a King that is a rigid Exactor of Tributes, deftroys a Nation.

By this we may judge of the general Names of Sacrifices. Every Gift to God

was