Lectionary Calendar
Thursday, November 21st, 2024
the Week of Proper 28 / Ordinary 33
Attention!
Take your personal ministry to the Next Level by helping StudyLight build churches and supporting pastors in Uganda.
Click here to join the effort!

Bible Dictionaries
Leaven

Easton's Bible Dictionary

Search for…
or
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z
Prev Entry
Leather
Next Entry
Lebanon
Resource Toolbox
Additional Links
  • Heb. seor (Exodus 12:15,19; 13:7; Leviticus 2:11 ), the remnant of dough from the preceding baking which had fermented and become acid.

  • Heb. hamets, properly "ferment." In Numbers 6:3 , "vinegar of wine" is more correctly "fermented wine." In Exodus 13:7 , the proper rendering would be, "Unfermented things [Heb. matstsoth] shall be consumed during the seven days; and there shall not be seen with thee fermented things [hamets], and there shall not be seen with thee leavened mass [seor] in all thy borders." The chemical definition of ferment or yeast is "a substance in a state of putrefaction, the atoms of which are in a continual motion."

    The use of leaven was strictly forbidden in all offerings made to the Lord by fire (Leviticus 2:11; 7:12; 8:2; Numbers 6:15 ). Its secretly penetrating and diffusive power is referred to in 1 Corinthians 5:6 . In this respect it is used to illustrate the growth of the kingdom of heaven both in the individual heart and in the world (Matthew 13:33 ). It is a figure also of corruptness and of perverseness of heart and life (Matthew 16:6,11; Mark 8:15; 1 Corinthians 5:7,8 ).

    Bibliography Information
    Easton, Matthew George. Entry for 'Leaven'. Easton's Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/​dictionaries/​eng/​ebd/​l/leaven.html. 1897.
  •  
    adsfree-icon
    Ads FreeProfile