Leaven

Occurrences in Scripture

Old Testament

In Exodus 12:15-20, Israel is commanded to remove leaven from their houses and to eat unleavened bread for the seven days following Passover. Exodus 12:34, 39 connects this practice with the hurried departure at the Exodus, when the people left before their dough had risen.

Leviticus 2:11 forbids putting leaven in any grain offering burned on the altar. Leviticus 7:13, however, includes leavened bread with the peace offering of thanksgiving, and the two loaves of the Feast of Weeks in Leviticus 23:17 are baked with leaven. Scripture, then, does not prohibit leaven in every case.

New Testament

• A parable of the kingdom of God: In Matthew 13:33 and Luke 13:20-21, Jesus likens the kingdom of heaven to leaven that a woman hid in three measures of meal until the whole was leavened (Parable of the Leaven).
• A warning against evil teaching: Matthew 16:6-12 interprets "the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees" as their doctrine. Mark 8:15 also mentions "the leaven of Herod," and Luke 12:1 calls the leaven of the Pharisees "hypocrisy."
• Sin within the community: In 1 Corinthians 5:6-8, Paul appeals to the fact that "a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump" and urges believers to purge out the old leaven. He then calls Christ "our passover." The same proverb appears in Galatians 5:9.

Background

In the ancient Near East, bread was leavened by mixing a portion of fermented dough saved from a previous batch into fresh dough. The Hebrew se'or refers to this fermented dough, while chametz refers to that which has been leavened and has risen. The term mugyobyeong (無酵餠) in the New Korean Revised Version means "unleavened bread." The Korean word nuruk, used to translate "leaven," originally refers to a grain-based fermentation starter used in brewing alcohol; biblical leaven differs in use, since it is fermented dough that makes bread rise.

Significance in the Whole of Scripture

Leaven functions as an image because a small amount spreads through the entire lump of dough. The Old Testament regulations for the Feast of Unleavened Bread are carried forward in the New Testament to explain Christ's sacrifice and the pure life of believers (1 Corinthians 5:7-8). The same "spreading power" is used for two opposite pictures: the expansion of the kingdom of God (the Parable of the Leaven) and the spread of evil teaching (the leaven of the Pharisees).

Interpretation and Debate

• The meaning of the Parable of the Leaven: Many denominations and commentators read the parable as depicting the kingdom of God beginning small and spreading throughout the world. Some dispensationalist interpreters, holding that leaven always signifies evil in Scripture, interpret the parable as the spread of false teaching within the church. In response, others point out that some texts, such as Leviticus 23:17, use leaven without a negative connotation.
• Bread in the Eucharist: The Western Church (Roman Catholic) uses unleavened bread, while the Orthodox Church uses leavened bread. This difference became a point of controversy around the time of the East–West Schism. Protestants generally permit either, and individual churches use unleavened wafers or ordinary bread (Lord's Supper).

In the Korean Church

In Korean church preaching, leaven is used chiefly in two ways. The first is as a warning against hypocrisy and sin, as in expressions such as "the leaven of the Pharisees" and "the old leaven." The second is as an image of how Christians, like leaven, should exert a good influence in the world.