Leaven

VIEW:39 DATA:01-04-2020
LEAVEN.—The leaven both of OT and of NT may be assumed to have always consisted of a piece of fermented dough from a previous baking. There is no clear trace, even in the Mishna, of other sorts of leaven, such as the lees of wine or those enumerated by Pliny (Hist. Nat. xviii. 26). In ordinary cases, in the preparation of the household bread, the lump of dough, above referred to, was either broken down into the water in the kneading trough (see Bread) before the fresh flour was added, or it might be ‘hid’ in the latter and kneaded along with it, as in the parable, Mat_13:33. The bread made from dough thus prepared was ‘leavened bread’ (Exo_12:16 and oft.); cakes made from flour without the addition of leaven received the special name mazzoth, ‘unleavened cakes,’ which gave their name to’ the feast of unleavened cakes’ (Exo_23:15 = etc, EV [Note: English Version.] ‘unleavened bread’).
The prohibition of leavened bread during the continuance of this Feast, including the Passover, is probably another illustration of conservatism in ritual, the nomadic ancestors of the Hebrews, like the Bedouin of the present day, having made their bread without leaven. The further exclusion of leaven from the offerings placed upon the altar of J″ [Note: Jahweh.] —although admitted when the bread was to be eaten by the priests (Lev_7:13; Lev_23:17)—is to be explained, like the similar exclusion of honey, from the standpoint that fermentation implied a process of corruption in the dough. The antiquity of this prohibition is attested by its occurrence in the earliest legislation (Exo_34:35; Exo_23:18). It does not seem to have been observed, however, in Amos’ day in the Northern Kingdom (see the Comm. on Amo_4:5).
This antique view of leaven as (in Plutarch’s words) ‘itself the offspring of corruption, and corrupting the mass of dough with which it has been mixed,’ is reflected in the figurative use of ‘leaven’ in such passages as Mat_16:6 ||, and especially in the proverbial saying twice quoted by St. Paul, ‘a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump’ (1Co_5:8, Gal_5:9; cf. 1Co_5:7 f.). In Mat_13:33, however, it is the silent but all-pervading action of leaven in the mass of the dough that is the point of comparison.
A. R. S. Kennedy.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
Edited by James Hastings, D.D. Published in 1909


seor. A lump of old dough in high fermentation. As making it and leavening bread with it took time, unleavened bread was used in sudden emergencies (Gen_18:6; Gen_19:3). It was forbidden in all offerings to the Lord by fire (Lev_2:11; Lev_7:12). The Israelites on pain of death were to have none in their houses or in the land during Passover for seven days, from 14th Nisan (Exo_12:15; Exo_12:19; Exo_12:39; Exo_13:7; Exo_23:18; Deu_16:3-4). Salt was its opposite, and was never to be absent from the altar burnt offering, representing the incorruptible imperishableness of Jehovah's covenant. Honey as liable to ferment also was excluded from the altar burnt offerings. Leaven reminded Israel of the haste with which they fled from Egypt, and of their sufferings, which answer to the insipidity of unleavened bread, "the bread of affliction."
Its prominent symbolical meaning was, it is bred of corruption and corrupts the mass with which it is mixed. Hence it represents "malice" (the evil habit) and "wickedness" (evil coming out in word and deed) as opposed to "sincerity" and "truth" (1Co_5:7). The Jews searched with extreme care their houses, to purge out every particle of leaven. So Christians ought to search their hearts and purge out every corruption (Psa_139:23-24). It also symbolizes corrupt doctrine (Mat_16:6). Another quality is its secretly penetrating and diffusive influence: 1Co_5:6, "a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump," the influence of one sinner corrupts many (Ecc_9:18); but in Gal_5:9 a little legalism mixed with the gospel corrupts its purity. Though elsewhere used in a bad sense, leaven in Mat_13:33 represents the gospel principle working silently "without observation" from within, until the whole is leavened, just as the mustard tree represents its diffusion externally; so "flesh," though usually in a bad sense, in Eze_11:19 is in a good sense.
The decomposition of social elements, accompanying and providentially preparing the way for the gospel, makes the image appropriate. Leaven was allowed to be offered in the firstfruits and tithes (Deu_26:2; Deu_26:12; 2Ch_31:5), the Pentecostal loaves (Lev_23:15; Lev_23:17), and the peace offering (Lev_7:13). See Lev_2:11 "as an oblation of firstfruits ye shall offer them (leaven and honey) unto the Lord, but they shall not be burnt on the altar for a sweet savour." In Amo_4:5 the leavened bread was "with the sacrifice of thanksgiving of the peace offerings," not with burnt offerings of animals on the altar. Perhaps however the command is ironical, "offer by burning (margin) a sacrifice ... with leaven" (which was forbidden), your very offerings being open insults to God.
Fausset's Bible Dictionary
By Andrew Robert Fausset, co-Author of Jamieson, Fausset and Brown's 1888.


Leaven. Various substances were known to have fermenting qualities; but the ordinary leaven consisted of a lump of old dough in a high state of fermentation, which was mixed into the mass of dough prepared for baking. The use of leaven was strictly forbidden in all offerings made to the Lord by fire. During the Passover, the Jews were commanded to put every particle of leaven from the house.
The most prominent idea associated with leaven in connection with the corruption which it had undergone, and which it communicated to bread in the process of fermentation. It is to this property of leaven that our Saviour points when he speaks of the "leaven (that is, the corrupt doctrine) of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees," Mat_16:6 and St. Paul, when he speaks of the "old leaven." 1Co_5:7.
(Another quality in leaven is noticed in the Bible, namely, its secretly penetrating and diffusive power. In this respect it was emblematic of moral influence generally, whether good or bad; and hence our Saviour adopts it as illustrating the growth of the kingdom of heaven in the individual heart and in the world at large: because
(1) its source is from without;
(2) it is secret in its operation;
(3) it spreads by contact of particle with particle;
(4) it is widely diffusive, one particle of leaven being able to change any number of particles of flour; and because
(5) it does not act like water, moistening a certain amount of flour, but is like a plant, changing the particles it comes in contact with into its own nature, with like propagating power. ? Editor).
Smith's Bible Dictionary
By Dr. William Smith.Published in 1863


The Hebrews were forbidden by the law to eat leavened bread, or a food with leaven in it, during the seven days of the passover, Exo_12:15-19; Lev_2:11. They were very careful in purifying their houses from all leaven before this feast began. God forbad either leaven or honey to be offered to him in his temple; that is, in cakes or in any baked meats. But on other occasions they might offer leavened bread or honey. St. Paul, 1Co_5:7-8, expresses his desire that the faithful should celebrate the Christian passover with unleavened bread; which, figuratively, signifies sincerity and truth. In this he teaches us two things; first, that the law which obliged the Jews to a literal observance of the passover is no longer in force; and, secondly, that by unleavened bread, truth and purity of heart were denoted. The same Apostle alludes to the ceremony used at the passover, when he says, “A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump;” that is, a small portion of leaven, in a quantity of bread or paste, corrupts the whole, and renders it unclean. Our Saviour, in the Gospel, Mat_16:11, warns his Apostles to beware of the leaven of the Herodians and Pharisees; meaning their doctrines.
Biblical and Theological Dictionary by Richard Watson
PRINTER 1849.


Among the Hebrews, leaven (or yeast) was very important. It had a practical use in making bread and a symbolic significance in religious rituals.
People made leaven by mixing the flour of certain cereals with water, and allowing the mixture to stand till it fermented. When making leavened bread, they mixed this fermented portion with dough, so that when the dough was baked in the oven the bread would rise (Mat_13:33; 1Co_5:6). Leavened bread was light and rounded, unleavened bread heavy and flat. An easier way of making leaven for future batches of bread was to remove a small piece of leavened dough before baking and leaving it stand till it too fermented.
The first mention of any ritual significance of leaven was at the time of the Passover when Israel escaped from Egypt. During the week after the Passover escape, the people had no time to bake their bread leavened. They had to carry their dough and baking pans with them, baking as they went (Exo_12:11; Exo_12:18; Exo_12:34; Exo_12:39). Each year from that time on, the people were to hold a symbolic re-enactment of the Passover along with a week-long Feast of Unleavened Bread. This was to remind them of Israel’s hurried and unceremonious departure from Egypt. They were to leave no leaven in their houses during the week of the feast (Exo_12:14-20; Exo_23:15; Mar_14:1; see PASSOVER).
Nothing containing leaven was to be offered on the altar of sacrifice. This was probably because leaven spoiled easily, and there was to be no trace of corruption in the sacrifices (Exo_23:18; Exo_34:25; Lev_2:11; Lev_7:12; Lev_10:12). However, leavened bread, representing the ordinary food of the people, was presented to God at the Feast of Harvest, as an expression of gratitude to him for their daily food (Lev_23:15-20). Leavened bread offered with the peace offering was not burnt on the altar, but eaten in the meal that followed (Lev_7:11-14).
Because it tended to corrupt and because it affected everything it touched, leaven developed a deeper symbolic meaning. Jesus saw the Pharisees, the Sadducees and Herod as evil influences that spread through Israel as leaven spreads through a lump of dough. He warned his disciples to beware of the leaven-like effect of such people. Their hypocrisy, teaching and ungodliness could quickly have a corrupting effect on others (Mat_16:5-12; Mar_8:15; Luk_12:1-3).
Just as Israelites cleaned all leaven out of their houses at the time of the Passover, so Christians should clean the leaven of sin and wrong teaching out of their church. If left unchecked, sin will spread yeast-like through the church (1Co_5:6-8; Gal_5:7-9).
In one of Jesus’ parables, by contrast, leaven is used figuratively in a good sense. Just as leaven spreads through the dough into which it is put, so will Christ’s kingdom spread throughout the world (Mat_13:33).
Bridgeway Bible Dictionary by Don Fleming
PRINTER 1990.


lev?-n (שׂאר, se'ōr, חמץ, ḥāmec; ζύμη, zúmē; Latin fermentum): The nomadic ancestors of the Hebrews, like the Bedouin of today, probably made their bread without leaven; but leaven came to play a great part in their bread-making, their law and ritual, and their religious teaching (see Exo_12:15, Exo_12:19; Exo_13:7; Lev_2:11; Deu_16:4; Mat_13:33; Mat_16:6-12; Mar_8:15 f; Luk_12:1; Luk_13:21).

(1) In Bread-Making.
The form of leaven used in bread-making and the method of using it were simple and definite. The ?leaven? consisted always, so far as the evidence goes, of a piece of fermented dough kept over from a former baking. There is no trace of the use of other sorts of leaven, such as the lees of wine or those mentioned by Pliny (NH, xviii. 26). The lump of dough thus preserved was either dissolved in water in the kneading-trough before the flour was added, or was ?hid? in the flour (the King James Version ?meal?) and kneaded along with it, as was the case mentioned in the parable (Mat_13:33). The bread thus made was known as ?leavened,? as distinguished from ?unleavened? bread (Exo_12:15, etc.). See BREAD.

(2) In Law and Ritual.
The ritual prohibition of leaven during ?the feast of unleavened bread? including the Passover (Exo_23:15, etc.) is a matter inviting restudy. For the historical explanation given in the Scriptures, see especially Exo_12:34-39; Exo_13:3 ff; Deu_16:3. The antiquity of the prohibition is witnessed by its occurrence in the earliest legislation (Exo_23:18; Exo_34:25). A natural reason for the prohibition, like that of the similar exclusion of honey, is sought on the ground that fermentation implied a process of corruption. Plutarch voices this ancient view of the matter when he speaks of it as ?itself the offspring of corruption, and corrupting the mass of dough with which it is mixed.? Fermentatum is used in Persius (Sat., i. 24) for ?corruption.? For this reason doubtless it was excluded also from the offerings placed upon the altar of Yahweh, cakes made from flour without leaven, and these only, being allowed. The regulation name for these ?unleavened cakes? was maccōth (Lev_10:12). Two exceptions to this rule should be noted (Lev_7:13; compare Amo_4:5): ?leavened bread? was an accompaniment of the thank offering as leavened loaves were used also in the wave offering of Lev_23:17. Rabbinical writers regularly use leaven as a symbol of evil (Lightfoot).

(3) In Teaching.
The figurative uses of leaven in the New Testament, no less than with the rabbins, reflect the ancient view of it as ?corrupt and corrupting,? in parts at least, e.g. Mat_16:6 parallel, and especially the proverbial saying twice quoted by Paul, ?A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? (1Co_5:6 f; Gal_5:9). But as Jesus used it in Mat_13:33, ?The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven,? it is clearly the hidden, silent, mysterious but all-pervading and transforming action of the leaven in the measures of flour that is the point of the comparison.

Literature.
Nowack, Hebrew Arch., II, 145 f; Talmud, Berakhoth, 17a; Lightfoot, Hor. Hebrew. on Mat_16:6.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
PRINTER 1915.


(b) In every place where leaven is mentioned, it is a type of evil teachings, evil doctrines and evil practices. It is always to be put away and cast out as an unclean thing. The Gospel is never called leaven. Nothing good is ever compared to leaven. Nothing good is ever said about leaven. In every place it is mentioned, leaven is defiling and is to be put away. (See Exo_12:15; Lev_2:11; 1Co_5:6).

Mat_13:33 (a) The leaven in this case is a type of evil doctrines, taught by the apostate church. The woman is the apostate church, the meal is the Word of GOD, the leaven is wrong and evil teachings concerning the Word of GOD. Every false religion mixes false teachings in with the Scriptures and thereby poisons those who eat it. The leaven is never the Gospel. There is no place in the Bible where leaven is spoken of in an approving way, nor is it ever related to anything good.
Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types
press 1957.





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