offered to God, yet they were not any way confumed, nor defigned to be fo. They were, or might have been, what the Greeks called, 'Avaluara, or by a more general word Δώρον, or Αφαίρεμα ; i. e. Prefents, or Gifts, or what a man parted with out of his Subftance, towards the Building of, or for an Ornament for, or to be repofited in, the Temple or Tabernacle: But they were not Sacrifices, because there was no Confumption of them: Nor were they defigned for the purpose of Sacrifices, tho' they were properly Corbanoth, or facred Gifts.

They who make, Sacrifice, and Gift to God, the fame, may feem to have the Authority of the Best Writers to justify their Notion. Virgil certainly was a moft exact and accurate Obferver of the Jus Pontificium, and he may be thought to have made ufe of the word, Gifts, general as it is, for Sacrifices.

But this paffage will by no means prove Gifts to God, and Sacrifices, to be the fame; but only that Sacrifices might come under the denomination of Gifts. The most accurate Writers always, I think, confine the word Sacrifice, to fuch Gifts as are conSumed; and if at any time they use another form of Expreffion, the circumstances of what they are speaking about will determine their Meaning. When Virgil here used the general word, Gifts, He tells us of the flain Sheep, and of their Skins on which the Priests lay all night in order to know the Will of God: which evidently fhews what Sorts of Gifts he is fpeaking of. Accordingly Lactantius in the place before cited juftly diftinguished between Gift, and Sacrifice. By Gift fays he is meant, "Whatever is made "of Gold or Silver, or wove of Purple "and Silk: a Sacrifice fignifies a Vic"tim and whatever is burnt upon an "Altar."

* Donum eft, quicquid Auro Argentoque fabricatur ; Sacrificium eft victima, et quæcunque in Ara cremantur. La&t. lib. vi. c. ult.

Reland

+

Reland has obferved, not with his ufual 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 Frankincenfe, 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."

It is certainly true, that the general word, Corban, comprehends Both thefe Species of Oblations. See Lev. i. 1. —ii, 1. But then it is true too, that Corban fometimes fignifies at large, a Gift, such a one as is spoken of Mark vii. 11. 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 Obla tiones, Sacrificiorum nomen vulgo accepit; hæc vero fcilicet incruentæ, Fertorum et Libaminum. Reland Antiq. p. 278.

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 themfelves to the "Service of God, and called themfelves "Corban. Thefe if they defired to be discharged from that Ministry, 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 A@pov in Greek. And fo St. Mark: If a Man fhall fay to his Father or Mother, it is Corban, that is to say 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 serviceable to their indigent Parents, had they not

* Καὶ οἱ Κορβᾶν αὐτὲς ὀνομάζοντας τῷ θεῷ· Δῶρον δὲ τέτο σημαίνει καλὰ Ἑλλήνων γλώτταν. Ευλομένες ἀφεθαι τῆς λειτεργίας τοῖς ἱερεῦσι καταβάλλειν ἀργύριον, γυναικα μὲν τριάκοντα σίκλους, άνδρα δὲ πενήκοντα. Jofep. Ant. l. iv. c. 4.

obliged

obliged themselves by Vows or Promise to part with them for holy Ufes; and under this Cover they too, often excused 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 use of by the Jews for Sacrifices is 1, which fignifies properly Gifts, and is as general as the English word, Gift. Accordingly it. is used 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 had, Abraham gave Gifts, Gen. xxv. 6. It is applied to the Heave Offerings and Wave Offerings of the Children of Ifrael, Numb. xviii. II. and these are called their Gift. In Ecclefiaftes c. iii. 13. it is used 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. Aóua,

and