A little yeast grows through the whole lump.
Parallel translations
- KJV A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.
- BSB A little leaven works through the whole batch of dough.
- NKJV A little leaven leavens the whole lump.
- NASB A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough.
- NLT This false teaching is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough!
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough. Even a small amount of false teaching can corrupt the entire church if left unchecked.
Overview
Paul uses a familiar proverb to warn that the legalists' error, though it may seem minor, will spread and contaminate the whole community. The danger lies in tolerating any compromise of the gospel. The verse calls for vigilance, since corruption of the truth cannot be quarantined but tends to permeate everything.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- 1 Cor 15:33Don’t be deceived! “Evil companionships corrupt good morals.”
- Mark 8:15He warned them, saying, “Take heed: beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.”
- 1 Cor 5:6–7Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole lump?
- Luke 12:1Meanwhile, when a multitude of many thousands had gathered together, so much so that they trampled on each other, he began to tell his disciples first of all, “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.
- Luke 13:21It is like yeast, which a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, until it was all leavened.”
- Matt 16:6–12Jesus said to them, “Take heed and beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
- 2 Tim 2:17and those words will consume like gangrene, of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus;
- Matt 23:33You serpents, you offspring of vipers, how will you escape the judgment of Gehenna?
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Christ became a curse for us to redeem us from the law's curse, that we might receive the Spirit and be sons — justified by faith in him, not by works.
How Galatians 5:9 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.