Archaic KJV Word
Sacrifice
Modern equivalent: giving something up
What Was Lost
The drawing near. Qorban comes from qarav, 'to draw near.' Sacrifice was not primarily about what you gave up but about the access it gave you -- the ability to approach God. The animal died so you could live in God's presence. 'Present your bodies a living sacrifice' meant 'approach God with your entire self.'
Closest Survivor in Modern English
offering (retains the giving dimension but loses the blood and the drawing-near)
Peak Usage (1611)
KJV Psalm 51:17 -- 'The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit'; Romans 12:1 -- 'Present your bodies a living sacrifice'
Died still used but cheapened (~1900)
Hebrew qorban ('that which is brought near/gift that approaches God') reduced from the means of drawing near to God to 'giving something up reluctantly.' Sacrifice became loss rather than access.
What Replaced It
“giving something up”
Loss-focused; qorban was about drawing near to God, not about what you lost
“cost”
Economic; sacrifice was relational -- the means of approaching the holy God
“selflessness”
Moral virtue; sacrifice was a specific act of bringing something valuable into God's presence to restore relationship