The Greek word anathēma (G334) refers to a votive offering — something dedicated or set apart as a gift to God and displayed in a temple. It appears in Luke 21:5, where the disciples admire the temple adorned with "beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God."
This is distinct from anathema (G331) — the curse/excommunication form. G334 is the positive sense: a sacred gift, while G331 is the negative: something devoted to destruction.
The disciples' admiration of the temple's anathēmata (votive gifts) in Luke 21:5 sets up one of Jesus' most arresting prophecies: "As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another" (Luke 21:6). Beautiful as they were, these sacred gifts and glorious stones would all be destroyed.
Jesus was not condemning the act of offering gifts to God, but calibrating His disciples' sense of permanence. Physical temples and their decorations are temporary; the kingdom of God is eternal. The lesson: do not build your theology or your security on earthly religious structures, however magnificent. True worship transcends any building.