No grain offering that you present to the LORD may be made with leaven, for you are not to burn any leaven or honey as an offering made by fire to the LORD.
Parallel translations
- WEB “‘No meal offering, which you shall offer to Yahweh, shall be made with yeast; for you shall burn no yeast, nor any honey, as an offering made by fire to Yahweh.
- KJV No meat offering, which ye shall bring unto the LORD, shall be made with leaven: for ye shall burn no leaven, nor any honey, in any offering of the LORD made by fire.
- NKJV ‘No grain offering which you bring to the Lord shall be made with leaven, for you shall burn no leaven nor any honey in any offering to the Lord made by fire.
- NASB ‘No grain offering, which you bring to the Lord, shall be made with leaven, for you shall not offer up in smoke any leaven or any honey as an offering by fire to the Lord.
- NLT “Do not use yeast in preparing any of the grain offerings you present to the Lord, because no yeast or honey may be burned as a special gift presented to the Lord.
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
No grain offering may contain yeast or honey when burned to God. Symbols of corruption and fermentation are excluded from what ascends on the altar.
Overview
Leaven and honey both ferment and were therefore unfit for burning on the altar, likely symbolizing corruption or natural sweetness that does not belong in the fire of sacrifice. The prohibition guarded the purity of offerings made to God. This emphasis on purity anticipates the sincerity and truth that mark genuine worship, made possible through Christ our unleavened Passover (1 Corinthians 5:8).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- 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.
- Gal 5:9A little leaven works through the whole batch of dough.
- Exod 23:18You must not offer the blood of My sacrifices with anything leavened, nor may the fat of My feast remain until morning.
- Mark 8:15“Watch out!” He cautioned them. “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of Herod.”
- 1 Pet 4:2Consequently, he does not live out his remaining time on earth for human passions, but for the will of God.
- Lev 6:16–17Aaron and his sons are to eat the remainder. It must be eaten without leaven in a holy place; they are to eat it in the courtyard of the Tent of Meeting.
- Prov 25:27It is not good to eat too much honey or to search out one’s own glory.
- Prov 24:13Eat honey, my son, for it is good, and the honeycomb is sweet to your taste.
- Exod 12:19–20For seven days there must be no leaven found in your houses. If anyone eats something leavened, that person, whether a foreigner or native of the land, must be cut off from the congregation of Israel.
- Prov 25:16If you find honey, eat just what you need, lest you have too much and vomit it up.
- Luke 21:34But watch yourselves, or your hearts will be weighed down by dissipation, drunkenness, and the worries of life—and that day will spring upon you suddenly like a snare.
- Exod 34:25Do not offer the blood of a sacrifice to Me along with anything leavened, and do not let any of the sacrifice from the Passover Feast remain until morning.
- Matt 16:11–12How do you not understand that I was not telling you about bread? But beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
- Acts 14:22strengthening the souls of the disciples and encouraging them to continue in the faith. “We must endure many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,” they said.
- Matt 16:6“Watch out!” Jesus told them. “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
- 1 Cor 5:6–8Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven works through the whole batch of dough?
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Christ at the center
Every sacrifice, every priest, and every day of atonement points beyond itself to the one perfect offering and the great High Priest who, by his own blood, makes the unclean holy once for all.
How Leviticus 2:11 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 Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.