Sunday, August 17, 2008

Mar 7:11 But you say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, [It is] Corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever you might be profited by me; [he shall be free].
Alternative: But you teach a man to tell his father or mother, Whatever I owe you is an votive offering gift.

The original here is a really convoluted translation with some poorly chosen words. The religious leaders taught people that if they declared all their property as a religious offering, they didn't have to use it to support their parents. My guess is that while they were alive, they could live off that property but that it went to the temple upon their death. Think of this as the era's version of declaring your business a non-profit corporation to avoid paying taxes only in this era, you wanted to get out of supporting your dependents because back in these primitive times that was thought of as a personal responsibility rather than the taxpayer's obligation.

"Gift" is from dôron (doron) which means "gift," "present," and specifically a "votive gift" or "offering" to a god. The simpler term without the sense of a votive offering is "dorea."

First "say" is from legô (lego) is used to describe what the scribes "say." It means literally "pick up," but it used to mean "recount," "tell over," "say," "speak," "teach," and "command."

The second "say"is epo (epo) which is from epos meaning "word." It is used like we might say "give someone the word."

"Out" is from ek, which means "out of," "away from," "from," or "by."

"You might be profited by me" is from ophellô (opheleo), which means "to own," "to pay," and "to be bound to render." This is the verb form of ôpheleia, which means "help," "aid," and "succor" as well as "profit," "advantage," or "gain from war."