The word “Let it be Korban whereby I am profitable to thee” is a form of solemn prohibition found, word for word as in the Gospel, in the Talmud. The meaning is, not that such alienated goods or services were really dedicated as an “offering,” but that they were to be regarded as if they had been dedicated.
The passage has been illumined from the Jewish side by J. Levy, who cites the relevant parallels from the Babylonian Talmud, Nedar I.4, ii.2, and iii.2. In the last passage there is a close parallel to Mk. Vii.11:
Matthew Black, An Aramaic Approach to the Gospels and Acts (2d ed.: Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1954), 101. Emphasis in original
The passage has been illumined from the Jewish side by J. Levy, who cites the relevant parallels from the Babylonian Talmud, Nedar I.4, ii.2, and iii.2. In the last passage there is a close parallel to Mk. Vii.11:
If anyone sees several persons eating fits that belong to him and says, “They are Korban with regard to you” (i.e., they are forbidden you), but afterwards discovers that as well as strangers his father and brothers are among them, then, according to the School of Shammai, his relatives are not bound by the Korban, but may partake of the figs; the strangers are bound by it. According to the School of Hillel, on the other hand, the relatives also are bound, even though the Korban has been pronounced with regard to them in error. And if anyone expressly lays such a Korban on his relatives, then they are bound by it and cannot receive anything from him that is covered by the Korban.
Matthew Black, An Aramaic Approach to the Gospels and Acts (2d ed.: Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1954), 101. Emphasis in original
