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| Explanation of “Corban.”
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9.
Explanation of “Corban.”
Jesus, however, does not accuse them with reference to a
tradition of the Jewish elders, but with regard to two most imperative
commandments of God, the one of which was the fifth in the decalogue,
being as follows: “Honour thy father and thy mother, that
it may be well with thee, and that thy days may be long on the land
which the Lord thy God giveth thee;”5410
and the other was written thus in Leviticus, “If a man speak evil
of his father or his mother, let him die the death; he has spoken evil
of his father or mother, he shall be guilty.”5411
But when we wish to examine the very
letter of the words as given by Matthew, “He that speaketh evil
of father or mother, let him die the death,”5412
consider whether it was taken from the place
where it was written, “Whoso striketh his father or mother, let
him die the death; and he that speaketh evil of father or mother let
him die the death.”5413
For such are the exact words taken
from the Law with regard to the two commandments; but Matthew has
quoted them in part and in an abridged form, and not in the very
words. But what the nature of the charge is which the Saviour
brings against the Pharisees and scribes from Jerusalem, when He says
that they transgress the commandment of God because of their tradition
we must consider. And God said, “Honour thy father and thy
mother,”5414
teaching that the
child should pay the honour which is due to his parents. Of this
honour to parents one part was to share with them the necessaries of
life, such as food and clothing, and if there was any other thing in
which it was possible for them to show favour towards their own
parents. But the Pharisees and scribes promulgated in opposition
to the law a tradition which is found rather obscurely in the Gospel,
and which we ourselves would not have thought of, unless one of the
Hebrews had given to us the following facts relating to the
passage. Sometimes, he says, when money-lenders fell in with
stubborn debtors who were able but not willing to pay their debts, they
consecrated what was due to the account of the poor, for whom money was
cast into the treasury by each of those who wished to give a portion of
their goods to the poor according to their ability. They,
therefore, said sometimes to their debtors in their own tongue,
“That which you owe to me is Corban,”—that is, a
gift—“for I have consecrated it to the poor, to the account
of piety towards God.” Then the debtor, as no longer in
debt to men but to God and to piety towards God, was shut up, as it
were, even though unwilling, to payment of the debt, no longer to the
money-lender, but now to God for the account of the poor, in name of
the money-lender. What then the money-lender did to the debtor,
that sometimes some sons did to their parents and said to them,
“That wherewith thou mightest have been profited by me, father or
mother, know that you will receive this from Corban,”5415
from the account of the poor who are
consecrated to God. Then the parents, hearing that that which
should have been given to them was Corban,—consecrated to
God,—no longer wished to take it from their sons, even though
they were in extreme need of the necessaries of life. The elders,
then, declared to the people a tradition of this kind, “Whosoever
said to his father or mother, that which should be given to any of them
is Corban and a gift, that man was no longer a debtor to his father or
mother in respect of giving to them the necessaries of
life.” The Saviour censures this tradition, as not being
sound but opposed to the commandment of God. For if God says,
“Honour thy father and thy mother,” but the tradition said,
he is not bound to honour his father or mother by a gift, who has
consecrated to God, as Corban, that which would have been given to his
parents, manifestly the commandment of God concerning the honour due to
parents was made void by the tradition of the Pharisees and scribes
which said, that he was no longer bound to honour his father or mother,
who had, once for all, consecrated to God that which the parents would
have received. And the Pharisees, as lovers of money, in order
that under pretext of the poor they might receive even that which would
have been given to the parents of any one, gave such teaching.
And the Gospel testifies to their love of money, saying, “But the
Pharisees who were lovers of money heard these things and they scoffed
at Him.”5416
If, then, any
one of those who are called elders among us, or of those who are in any
way rulers of the people, profess to give to the poor under the name of
the commonweal, rather than to be of those who give to their kindred if
they should chance to be in need of the necessaries of life, and those
who give cannot do both, this man might with justice be called a
brother of those Pharisees who made void the word of God through their
own tradition, and were accused by the Saviour as hypocrites. And
as a very powerful deterrent to any one from being anxious to take from
the account of the poor, and from thinking that “the piety of
others is a way of gain,”5417
we have not
only these things, but also that which is recorded about the traitor
Judas, who in appearance championed the cause of the poor, and said
with indignation, “This ointment might have been sold for three
hundred pence and given to the poor,”5418
but in reality “was a thief, and having the bag took away what
was put therein.”5419
If, then, any
one in our time who has the bag of the Church speaks likes Judas on
behalf of the poor, but takes away what is put therein, let there be
assigned to him the portion along with Judas who did these things; on
account of which things eating like a gangrene into his soul, the devil
cast it into his heart to betray
the Saviour; and, when he had received the “fiery
dart,”5420
with reference to
this end, the devil afterwards himself entered into his soul and took
full possession of him. And perhaps, when the Apostle says,
“The love of money is a root of all evils,”5421
he says it because of Judas’ love of
money, which was a root of all the evils that were committed against
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