A little leaven works through the whole batch of dough.
Parallel translations
- WEB A little yeast grows through the whole lump.
- KJV A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.
- 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 15:33Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good character.”
- Mark 8:15“Watch out!” He cautioned them. “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of Herod.”
- 1 Cor 5:6–7Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven works through the whole batch of dough?
- Luke 12:1In the meantime, a crowd of many thousands had gathered, so that they were trampling one another. Jesus began to speak first to His disciples: “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.
- Luke 13:21It is like leaven that a woman took and mixed into three measures of flour, until all of it was leavened.”
- Matt 16:6–12“Watch out!” Jesus told them. “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
- 2 Tim 2:17and the talk of such men will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus,
- Matt 23:33You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape the sentence of hell?
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.