J. S. Banks.
CONVERT. — In AV c. is used once intransitively, Is 6'" ' lest they see with their eyes . . . and con- vert and be healed' (RV 'turn again'). Cf. Wyclif's tr. of Jn 1'^ (1382) ' Sothli Ihesu convertid and sejTige hem suwynge him, seith to hem, What seken ve ? ' The most frequent meaning of c. in early Lng. (and in AV) is simply to turn {e.g. Is 60") ; but the mod. use was known, as Shaks. Merck, of Ven. IIL v. 37 : ' in converting Jews to Christians you raise the price of pork.' In Ps23^ for AV ' he restoreth my soul,' Douay reads 'he hath conuerted my soule,' with the remark, 'which is the first justification.' See Conversion. J. Hastings.
CONVINCE.— Certainly in most, probably in all the examples of c. in AV, the meaning is to convict. Job 32" ' There was none of you that convin(ted Job ' (n-:"in, cf. Ps 50-', Pr 30" where EV have 'reprove,' but 'con\'ict' would be better); Job's friends did not try to convince him merely, but to convict him, find him in the Avrong, and that is probably the meanin" both of the Heb. and of the English. In NT the Gr. is either the simple iXeyxa Jn 8** ' Which of you c""" me of sin ! ' ; 1 Co 14^ ' he is ce" of all, he is judged of all ' ; Tit I' ' to c. the gainsayers ' (not merely refute in argu- ment, but convict in conscience) ; Ja 2" ' are c'^oi the law' ; Jude''(edd.; TR ('feX^Tx") 'toe. all that are ungodly among them of their ungodly deeds' ; or SiaKaTeX^yxofuit, a compound occurring here only in all Gr. literature, Ac 18^ ' he mightily c"^ the Jews' (RV 'powerfully confuted' ; but from the analogy of other passages it is prob. that St. Luke means that the apostle brougnt home moral blame to them, not merelj' that he refuted their arguments). Cf. Milton, Par. Reg. iii. 3, ' Satan stood . . . confuted, and convinc't' ; and Adams, Serm. ii. 38, ' Whatsoever is written is written either for our instruction or destruction ; to convert us if we embrace it, to convince us if we despise it.'
CONVOCATION.— See Conoreoation. COOK- INC.- See Food. COPPER.— See Brass.
COPTIC VERSION.— See Egyptian Versions. COR.— See Weights and Measures.
CORAL (n'ON-i) is twice (or thrice, if we include Pr 24' where ' too high ' is tr. of s.ame word) mentioned in OT, Job 28"* and Ezk 27"; and aa coral is abundant in the waters of the Rlediterranean, the reference in the latter to Syria as a ' merchant in coral ' is peculiarly appropriate (cf. Dillm. Job 28"). Red coral (Corallitim nwrutn) is proliably meant, as being specially suited for ornament ; out from the rareness of ornaments of this material, found amongst those of Egypt and Phcenicia, we may conclude that it was not in much request, at least in OT times ; on the other hand, the material may have crumbled away, or been cisaolved.
COR-ASHAN
CORINTH
■47'j
The polyps, or animals producing coral, belong to those members of the Actinozoa which secrete a hard, generally calcareous, skeleton. They flourish in the warm v«aiers of the Mediterranean and Indian (,*cean, where these are clear and free fioni sediment, at various depths down to about 80 fathoms or more. The most important fisheries are off the coast of Tunis, Algeria, Naples, Genoa, Sardinia, and Corsica. E. ill'LL.
COR-ASHAN (AV Chor-ashan, 1 S 30*>) is the pnsinl nailing (I'fv""''") of MT, but the orig. text was undoubtedly Bor-ashan (';'"i'3), as is evident from the LXX (A Bupao-di/, B liripadpec) . Cf. notes of Budde, Driver, and Wellh. ad loc. The place may be the same as Ashan of Jos 16^^ 19".
J. A. SKl.lilE.
CORBAN (Ileb. ^TPr iorbSn) means (1) an obUilion ; * (2) a gift. The word occurs Mk 7" 'If a nuvn shall say to his father or his mother, That wherewith thou mightest have been profited by me is Corban, that is to say, Given (to God), ye no longer suffer him to do aught for his father or his mother' (cf. Mt 15' RV). The Talmudic treatise Xidarim (=vows) discloses that the Jews were nmcli addicted to rash vows ; and t?"[^, or its ei|uivalent -'V (^ = iOnas, which according to Levy is a corruption of ^J'l', iondin), was in constant use ; so that it gradually became a mere formula of inter- diction, without any intention of making the thing interdicted 'a gift to God.' A man seeing his house on tire says, ' My tallith shall be (forban, if it is not burnt,' AW. iii. (!. In making a vow of abstinence he says, ' Konas be the food (vi. I) or the wine (viii. 1) which I taste.' When a man resolves not to plough a field, he says, ' Konas be the field, if I plough it,' iv. 7. Repudiation of a wife is thus expressed, ' What my wife migiit be benefited by me is konas ("^ ^Jl! 'O'i'f "J'^), because she has stolen my cup' or 'struck my son,' iii. 2; while the preei.se Ileb. formula of our text is IJ'Ji^ *? "'!;?! ■?!?':•. viii. 11 (Lowe's Mishiia).