Unleavened Bread

Biblical Texts

Unleavened bread receives its most significant treatment in Exodus 12. On the night of Passover, the Israelites ate the meat of the lamb with bitter herbs and unleavened bread (Exodus 12:8). They were then commanded to eat unleavened bread for seven days and to remove leaven from their houses on the first day (Exodus 12:15-20). The people carried their dough out before it had risen, because they had been driven out of Egypt and could not delay (Exodus 12:34, 39). Deuteronomy 16:3 calls unleavened bread "the bread of affliction" and describes it as a food that recalls the hasty departure from Egypt. Leviticus 23:6 establishes the Feast of Unleavened Bread, observed for seven days beginning the day after Passover.

Unleavened bread also appears outside the feasts. Lot baked unleavened bread for his guests (Genesis 19:3). Gideon offered unleavened cakes to the angel of the LORD (Judges 6:19-21). Unleavened bread was also used in the consecration of the priests (Exodus 29:2) and in the ceremony marking the completion of a Nazirite vow (Numbers 6:15).

Background

Bread was leavened by taking a portion of previously risen dough and mixing it into a new batch so that it would ferment. Unleavened bread is made without this process and can be baked quickly from flour and water. Among the Old Testament sacrifices, leaven was not permitted in the grain offering presented to the LORD (Leviticus 2:11). However, leavened bread was offered along with the peace offering of thanksgiving (Leviticus 7:13), and the two loaves of the Feast of Weeks were baked with leaven (Leviticus 23:17). Leaven, therefore, was not prohibited in every offering.

Significance in the New Testament

In the New Testament period, Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread were referred to together as a single observance (Luke 22:1). The Last Supper is recorded as taking place on "the first day of the feast of unleavened bread" (Matthew 26:17; Mark 14:12). In 1 Corinthians 5:6-8, Paul declares that "Christ our passover is sacrificed for us" and urges believers to purge out the old leaven and keep the feast "with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." Here the imagery of unleavened bread is applied to the life of the believer.

Interpretation and Points of Debate

• The symbolism of leaven: Jesus warned His disciples to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees (Matthew 16:6). For this reason leaven is often interpreted as a symbol of sin or false teaching. In the Parable of the Leaven (Matthew 13:33), however, leaven represents the growth of the kingdom of God. Consequently, the generalization that leaven always carries a negative meaning is disputed.
• Bread for the Eucharist: Following Western tradition, the Catholic Church uses unleavened bread in the Eucharist, while the Eastern Orthodox Church uses leavened bread. This difference was one of the points of contention in the eleventh-century East–West Schism. The Synoptic Gospels portray the Last Supper as a Passover meal, whereas the Gospel of John places the crucifixion on the day of preparation for the Passover (John 19:14). As a result, interpreters also differ on whether the bread at the Supper was unleavened. Protestants generally do not regard the type of bread as an essential matter.
• Later embellishments: Some explanations interpret the customs surrounding matzah at the Jewish Passover meal (the Seder) as figures of Jesus' death and resurrection. A widely circulated explanation also sees the holes and stripes in matzah as representing the wounds of Christ. Such interpretations are Christian readings of later customs and are not found in the biblical text.

In the Korean Church

Practice for the Lord's Supper varies among Korean Protestant churches: some congregations use ordinary bread such as sandwich bread or castella sponge cake, while others use unleavened communion bread (thin wafers). Sermons during Holy Week or on Communion Sundays frequently cite the "unleavened bread" of 1 Corinthians 5.