9<\/strong>. Leaven is that small portion of fermented dough which is introduced into the fresh lump of dough, and communicates lightness to the whole mass. It is employed figuratively in Scripture to denote the working of both good and bad influences, and is used both of persons and of principles or teaching comp. Mat 16:12<\/span>; Luk 13:21<\/span>. There is a reference, sometimes tacit, sometimes express (1Co 5:8<\/span>), to the typical prohibition of the use of leaven in the law of Moses, Exo 12:15-20<\/span>; Exo 12:34<\/span>. This verse, which occurs again, 1Co 5:6<\/span>, seems to have passed into a proverb. There<\/em> the Apostle is condemning the toleration of a single act of open immorality in a member of the Church of Christ. It was the concession of a principle, and whether it be followed by other similar acts or not, the standard of Christian morality will be lowered, and a laxity of tone will gradually pervade the spirit, and degrade the practice, of those who are called ‘not unto uncleanness but unto holiness’. Here<\/em> the warning is against the insidious nature of the false teaching of the Judaizing leaders. The difference between that teaching and ‘the truth of the Gospel’ may appear inconsiderable, and the teachers themselves may be insignificant in numbers or in authority. But error, once admitted, is a virus which will gradually spread and poison the whole system of doctrine, or the whole spiritual life of the individual or of the Church.<\/p>\n A little leaven … – <\/B>This is evidently a proverbial expression; see it explained in the notes at 1Co 5:6<\/span>. Its meaning here is, that the embracing of the errors which they had adopted was to be traced to some influence existing among themselves, and acting like leaven. It may either mean that there was existing among them from the first a slight tendency to conform to rites and customs, and that this had now like leaven pervaded the mass; or it may mean that the false teachers there might be compared to leaven, whose doctrines, though they were few in number, had pervaded the mass of Christians; or it may mean, as many have supposed, that any conformity to the Jewish law was like leaven. If they practiced circumcision, it would not stop there. The tendency to conform to Jewish rites would spread from that until it would infect all the doctrines of religion, and they would fall into the observance of all the rites of the Jewish law. It seems to me that the second interpretation referred to above is the correct one; and that the apostle means to say, that the influence which had brought this change about was at first small and unimportant; that there might have been but a few teachers of that kind, and it might have not been deemed worthy of particular attention or alarm; but that the doctrines thus infused into the churches, had spread like leaven, until the whole mass had become affected.<\/P> <\/p>\n Gal 5:9<\/span><\/p>\n A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n Leaven as a symbol of evil<\/strong><\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>Through systems and organizations.<\/p>\n (1)<\/strong> In our Lords time by the Pharisaic, Sadducean, and Herodian systems.<\/p>\n (2)<\/strong> In Pauls day by the Judaizing emissaries.<\/p>\n So now there is the leaven of–<\/p>\n (1)<\/strong> Religious superficiality;<\/p>\n (2)<\/strong> scepticism;<\/p>\n (3)<\/strong> formalism.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>Through the Zeit-Geist,<\/em> the spirit of the age.<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>Indignation. To prevent fermentation, the chemist passes the air which contains the sporules through a hot platinum tube, which destroys the germs. A mild apologetic mood will not do for evil.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>Separation. Living organisms will not grow energetically until brought in contact with substances having an affinity with them. So evil must be cut off by caution.<\/p>\n The power of example<\/strong><\/p>\n Just as the leaven, by its mere presence, changes the particles of meal in which it is hid, so does each human being, by his mere presence, affect for good or evil those with whom he associates. (H. Macmillan,<\/em> LL. D.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Scripture use of leaven<\/strong><\/p>\n I suppose we are most of us rather surprised that leaven is generally used in a bad sense in Holy Scripture. Not, indeed, always; because the kingdom of heaven itself is likened to leaven; but generally. In the New Testament leaven is mentioned on five distinct occasions, and on four of these as a type of something very evil, as a symbol of a thoroughly mischievous activity. In the Old Testament, the prohibition of leaven in all the offerings made to God occurs to us at once. It must, however, be allowed that this prohibition has two distinct origins, the one of which (and the earlier and most important) is purely historical, and carries with it no notion of good or evil. The total avoidance of leaven during the annual solemnity of the Passover, although it afterwards acquired a moral significance, was simply ordained in memory of their hasty flight from Egypt (Exo 12:1-51<\/span>.). The other prohibition, however, is of a moral and typical character: the exclusion of leaven from the sacrifices of God distinctly gave a moral character and meaning to its absence (Lev 2:11<\/span>) Now let us ask what leaven is, and whether there is anything in its own nature to explain the evil significance which Holy Scripture has attached to it. Leaven, then, is simply so much dough in a state of fermentation. When the last lump had been leavened, and was ready for baking, a portion was set aside to act as leaven for the next lump. Now the process of fermentation is one of the most curious, and (until lately) most obscure among the commoner operations of nature. It is now known to be due to the rapid–often inconceivably rapid–development of vegetable (fungoid) growth, which has the power of disengaging a quantity of free acid, and of changing the chemical character of the substance on which it acts. It is believed that most, if not all, contagious diseases are due to fermentation imported into the blood; and the terrible danger of these diseases is only a striking proof of the extreme facility with which fermentation spreads. This is, indeed, its one great characteristic–a characteristic which governs at once many of the most ordinary and useful operations of life, and many of its most deadly and widespread evils. Fermentation may, indeed, be conveyed by one substance into another, as in the common case of dough raised by means of yeast. But the ordinary and typical method is that of leaven, which is itself fermented dough, introduced into the midst of other unfermented dough. The invariable consequence is, that the fermented portion has the power of superinducing its own chemical condition upon the mass with which it is placed in contact: being itself in a state of violent chemical change, it has the power of setting on the same change all around it; nor will this action cease until that of which it is a part has entirely succumbed to its influence. But this change is, in its entirety, a change for the worst: it may, indeed, be checked (as in bread by baking, in wine by adding spirit, or by other means); but unless stopped at an early stage it is hurtful; and when it cannot be checked, as in decaying substances and in fatal diseases, it is simply destructive. Thus fermentation does, as it were, spring from evil and end in evil; it originates in that which is corrupt and hastening towards dissolution, and it ever tends to reproduce the same. Only when carefully watched, and mastered, and held in check, does it lend itself to real usefulness. And even so it retains some reminder of its evil origin. Yeast may be tasteless and harmless enough; but leaven is fermented, i.e.,<\/em> sour, dough, and always imparts a certain sourness to the bread which is made with it. It is in the nature of all complex organic substances to be subject to a destructive fermentation; they are only kept from it, only preserve their delicate chemical balance, by the principle of life (whatever it may be) within them The very law of leaven and its power stands in the fact of like to like; and even so false teaching can only act with rapidity and certainty when it comes to minds disposed to receive it–when it jumps, i.e.,<\/em> with the popular errors and exaggerations of the day. But with moral evil it is different, because that evil is always in us more or less, and therefore the leaven always finds something apt to work on if it be admitted. There is in most of us, at any rate, a large body of imaginations which are ready to swell, to work, to become turbid, to disengage a quantity of evil temper and evil feeling, and to ruin the proper sweetness and savour of our Christianity, if once we have opened our hearts to the contagion of malice and wickedness. In 1 Corinthians<\/p>\n 5. <\/strong>St. Paul passes, by an easy transition, from the natural to the historical associations of leaven. As sedulously as all ferment was banished from the houses of the Israelites, so sedulously should the moral ferment be banished from the hearts of Christians. (R. Winterbotham,<\/em> B. Sc.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Infectious nature of evil<\/strong><\/p>\n The least particle of evil infects; a single spark kindles a forest. Away with it! But O ye careless! is it a small thing to you, to be corrupted through idle talk and accompanyings, through poison of lies against Christ? (Hedinger.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The lost hammer<\/strong><\/p>\n A relief lifeboat was built at New London thirteen years ago. While the workmen were busy over it, one man lost his hammer. Whether he knew it or not, it was nailed up in the bottom of the boat. Perhaps if he found it out, he thought the only harm done was the loss of one hammer. The boat was put to service, and every time it rocked on the waves that hammer was tossed to and fro. Little by little it wore for itself a track, until it had worn <\/strong>through planking and keel, down to the very copper plating, before it was found out. Only that plate of copper kept the vessel from sinking. It seemed a very little thing in the start, but see what mischief it wrought. So with a little sin in the heart. It may break through all the restraints that surround us, and but for Gods great mercy, sink our souls in endless ruin. A few evil words in a childs ear have rung in his soul for twenty years, and brought untold harm. It is the sir hidden in the heart that we should most fear. There are none who do not need to pray, Cleanse Thou me from secret<\/em> faults.<\/p>\n Little faults<\/strong><\/p>\n The least unfaithfulness may bring a curse upon us, as the foot of the chamois on the snowy mountains, or the breath of a traveller who sings or shouts on his snowy road, may cause an avalanche which shall entomb the village now full of life and gaiety at the mountains base.<\/p>\n It is the little rift within the lute,<\/p>\n That by-and-by will make the music mute, That rotting inwards slowly moulders all.<\/p>\n One wilful sin enough to ruin<\/strong><\/p>\n The effect of one wilfully committed vicious action on the inner life of a man may be like the effect produced by allowing a single drop of ink to fall into a glass of pure water, which surely, though perhaps imperceptibly, permeates and contaminates the whole.<\/p>\n Danger of little sins<\/strong><\/p>\n A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump; a little staff may kill one; a little leak in a ship sinks it; a little flaw in a good cause mars it–so a little sin may at once bar the door of heaven and open the gates of hell: though the scorpion he little, yet it will sting a lion to death: and so <\/strong>will the least sin, if not pardoned by the death of Christ. (T. Brooks.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n You need not break the glasses of a telescope, or coat them over with paint, in order to prevent you from seeing through them. Just breathe upon them, and the dew of your breath will shut out all the stars. So it does not require great crimes to hide the light of Gods countenance. Little faults can do iV just as well. (H. W. Beecher.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Believe it, these little sins do arm Gods terrible power and vengeance against you: and as a page may carry the sword of a great warrior after him, so your little sins do, as it were, bear the sword of Gods justice, and put it into His hands against you. (Bishop Hopkins.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n A company was walking in Sudbrook Park, when Dr. Ellis drew attention to a large sycamore tree decayed to the core. That fine tree, said he, was killed by a single worm. Two years previously, the tree was as healthy as any in the park, when a woodworm, about three inches long, was observed to be forcing its way under the bark Of the trunk. It then caught the eye of a naturalist who was staying there; and he remarked, .Let that worm alone, and it will kill the tree. This seemed very improbable; but it was agreed that the black-headed worm should not be disturbed after a time it was discovered that the worm had tunnelled its way a considerable distance under the bark. The leaves, next summer, dropped off very early; and, in the succeeding year, it was a dead, rotten thing, and the hole made by the worm might be seen in the heart of the once noble trunk. Ah, said one who was present, let us learn a lesson from that single tree. How many who once promised fair for usefulness in the world and the Church have been ruined by a single sin!<\/p>\n Little sins lead to greater<\/strong><\/p>\n It is Satans custom by small sins to draw us to greater, as the little sticks set the great ones on fire, and a wisp of straw enkindles a block of wood. (T. Manton,<\/em> D. D.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n A spark is the beginning of a flame, and a small disease may bring a greater. (R. Baxter.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Sin encroacheth by degrees upon the soul<\/strong><\/p>\n ; if it can get but one of its claws into us, it will quickly follow with its head and whole body. Unfaithfulness to God is first discovered in the smallest matters, then it proceeds to greater things. As the decay of a tree is first visible in its twigs, but by degrees it goeth on the bigger arms, and from them to the main body. As it is the nature of a cancer or gangrene to run from one joint or part of the body to another, from the toe to the foot, from the foot to the leg, from the leg to the thigh, and thence to the vital parts. Do we not sometimes see a whole arm imposthumated with the prick of a little finger; and have we not sometimes heard of a great city betrayed by the opening of a little postern? These little sins will grow to great ones if let alone. Time will turn small dust into stone. The poisonous cockatrice at first was but an egg. Small twigs will prove thorny bushes if not timely stubbed up. (G. Swinnock.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Deteriorating influence of little sins<\/strong><\/p>\n The little transgressions in which men indulge, though they have no power upon the settled course of human affairs, even if they are swept out into a current of public sentiment that carries them down, as leaves are carried by the Amazon, are not harmless nor indifferent, because, aside from the influence of minor delinquencies upon the sum of affairs outwardly, there is another history and record, namely, their influence upon the actor. They deteriorate conscience. You can by a blow crush and destroy the conscience, or you can nibble and gnaw it to pieces. There is one way in which a lion strikes down his prey, and there is another way in which a rat comes at his prey; and in time the gnawing of vermin is as fatal to beauty and life itself as the stroke of the lions paw. These little infidelities to duty, truth, rectitude, lower the moral tone, limit its range, destroy its sensibility; in short, they put out its light. It is recorded of a lighthouse erected on a tropical shore, that it was like to have failed for the most unlooked-for reason. When first kindled, the brilliant light drew about it such clouds of insects, which populate the evening and night of equatorial lands, that they covered and fairly darkened the glass. There was a noble light that shone out into the darkness and vanquished night, that all the winds could not disturb, nor all the clouds and storms hide; but <\/strong>the soft wings and gauzy bodies of myriads of insects, each one of which was insignificant, effectually veiled the light, and came near defeating the proposed gift to mariners. And so it is in respect to conscience. There may be a power in it to resist great assault, to overcome strong temptations, and to avoid fearful dangers; but there may be a million little venomous insect habits, unimportant in themselves, taken individually, but fearful in their results collectively. (H. W. Beecher.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Insidiousness of little sins<\/strong><\/p>\n Men, in their property, are afraid of conflagrations and lightning strokes; but if they were building a wharf in Panama, a million madrepores, so small that only the microscope could detect them, would begin to bore the piles down under the water. There would be neither noise nor foam; but in a little while, if a child did but touch the post, over it would fall as if a saw had cut it through. Now men think, with regard to their conduct, that if they were to lift themselves up gigantically and commit some crashing sin, they should never he able to hold up their heads; but they will harbour in their souls little sins, which are piercing and eating them away to inevitable ruin. (H. W. Beecher.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The bad leaven; or, the contagion of sin<\/strong><\/p>\n There is a thing active, leaven; a thing factive, soureth; a thing passive, the lump.<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>First, taking leaven for false doctrine, so we find in the New Testament four sorts of leavens: Mat 16:6<\/span>, Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees; there be two of them, the Pharisaical and the Sadducean leavens. Mar 8:15<\/span>, Beware of the leaven of Herod; there is the third. The fourth is my text, the leaven of mingling Mosaical ordinances with Christs institutions.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>Now to the second way of considering these words, taking leaven personally for leaveners, false teachers, indeed heretics.<\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. Now let us resolve this allegory another way, and conceive by leaven, sin; by lump, man; by leavening, infection. In effect, a little sin makes the whole man, in body and soul, unsavoury to the Lord. Sin and leaven are fitly compared for their sourness. There is a leaven sharp and sour, but sanative. But this leaven is far sourer, yet hath nothing but death in it. It is soar to God, sour to angels, sour to saints, sour to the sinner. Sin is sourer than any leaven.<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>Even the least offence is mortal in its own nature, capable of transgression, and liable to malediction.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>Sins less heinous, are the most numerous. Many littles make a mickle. Small drops of rain commonly cause the greatest floods. The less violence, the longer continuance. The drizzling sleet, that falls as it were in a mist, fills the channels, they swell the rivers, the overcharged rivers send forth their superfluous waters over the containing banks; now the meadows are polluted, the corn-fields spoiled, the cattle drowned; yea, even houses, and towns, and inhabitants are endangered, and firm continents buried under a deluge of waters. Many little sands, gathered to a heap, fail not to swallow a great vessel. You have eagles, hawks, kites, and such great fowls of rapine, flying always alone; but the sparrows and pigeons, that devour the grain, by innumerable troops. A pace is but a little space of ground; yet a thousand paces make a mile, and many miles bring to hell. If they be not the worst, they are the most; and is it not all to one purpose whether one Goliath or a thousand Philistines overcome thee? The bird brings so many little straws as make up her nest: the reprobate so many little sticks as make up his own burning pile. Augustine saith there is in sin both weight and number. Judge them by tale, and not by weight. Put a wanton speech, a loose gesture into the balance, though Christ found it heavy, and every soul shall for whom he did not bear it, yet it is censured, a little faulting, a little failing: so little, that were it less, it were nothing.<\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>These little sins are not so easily felt, therefore most pernicious. If a man hath dyed his hand in blood, a peaceless conscience haunts him with incessant vexation: let him hate his brother, this little murder he feels not. The devil, like a roaring lion, is soon heard: forming himself to a fox, his insinuation is not perceived. Doubtless there be some that would shudder at the temptation to perjury; yet, by insensible steps they arrive at it: by lying they come to swearing, by swearing to forswearing.<\/p>\n 4. <\/strong>Little sins are the materials of great sins. The seeds of all sins are naturally in us: not so much as treason, homicide, perjury, but there is in our nature a proclivity to them. Sin seems at first like a little cloud, but it prognosticates a deluge of ensuing wickedness.<\/p>\n 5. <\/strong>A little sin infects a great deal of righteousness. The leprosy infected the garments, and the very walls of the house; but sin hath infected wood, and wool, and walls, earth, air, beasts, plants, and planets; and stuck a scar on the crystal brow of nature itself: For we know the whole creation groaneth, and travaileth in pain together until now (Rom 8:22<\/span>). If the great world groan for mans sin, shall not the little world, man, groan for his own sin? When one commended Alexander for his noble acts and famous achievements, another objected against him that he killed Callisthenes. He was valiant and successful in the wars; true, but he killed Callisthenes. He overcame the great Darius; so, but he killed Callisthenes. He made himself master of the world; grant it, but still he killed Callisthenes. His meaning was, that this one unjust fact poisoned all his valorous deeds. Beware of sin, which may thus leaven the whole lump of our soul. Indeed we must all sin, and every sin sours; but to the faithful and repentent Christian it shall not be damnable: There is no damnation to them that are in Jesus Christ, (Rom 8:1<\/span>). There is in all corruption, to most affliction, to none damnation, that are in Christ. Our leaven hath soured us, but we are made sweet again by the all-perfuming blood of our blessed Saviour.<\/p>\n 6. <\/strong>The least sins are the most fatal to mens destruction. There is death in it and for it. A dram of poison diffuseth itself to all parts, till it strangle the vital spirits, and turn out the soul from the tenement. (T. Adams.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n A little leaven<\/strong><\/p>\n It is needful to remember what leaven represented under the Mosaic ritual. It typified the unrenewed degenerate nature. Though its component ingredients were the same as sweet dough, through fermentation it was liable to corruption and acidity. Thus it is opposed to the oil of the meat offering which symbolized the Spirit of God. In the latter case the meal was made palatable by a mild and penetrating process, while leaven caused a fermenting disturbance of the <\/strong>mass. (Kurtz.<\/em>)<\/p>\n Verse 9. A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.<\/B><\/I>] A proverbial expression, see 1Co 5:6<\/span>, very aptly applied to those who receive the smallest tincture of false doctrine, relative to the things essential to salvation, which soon influences the whole conduct, so that the man becomes totally perverted. They might have argued, “It is a small thing<\/I>, and should not be made a subject of serious controversy, whether we be circumcised or not.” Granted, that in itself<\/I> it is a small matter; but, as every man who is circumcised is a debtor to do the whole law, Ga 5:3<\/span>, then your circumcision leads necessarily to your total perversion; as the little<\/I> portion of leaven<\/I>, mixed with the batch, soon leavens<\/I> the whole lump<\/I>.<\/P><\/p>\n This is a proverbial expression, which (as others of that nature) is applicable in more cases than one. The apostle made use of it, 1Co 5:6<\/span>, to persuade that church to purge their communion, by casting out the incestuous person: he maketh use of it here to persuade them to take heed of admitting any principles of false doctrine, which he compareth to leaven, (as our Saviour does, Mat 16:6<\/span>,12<\/span>), and that very fitly, both in regard of the sour and of the diffusive nature of it; the latter of which is here chiefly intended; the truths of God having such dependence one upon another, that he who erreth in any one doctrine of faith, seldom continueth long sound as to other points. <\/P> <\/p>\n 9. A little leaven<\/B>the falseteaching<\/I> of the Judaizers. A small portion of legalism, if it bemixed with the Gospel, corrupts its purity. To add legal ordinancesand works in the least degree to justification by faith, is toundermine “the whole.” So “leaven” is used offalse doctrine<\/I> (Mt 16:12<\/span>:compare Mt 13:33<\/span>). In 1Co5:6<\/span> it means the corrupting influence of one bad person;<\/I>so BENGEL understands ithere to refer to the person (Gal 5:7<\/span>;Gal 5:8<\/span>; Gal 5:10<\/span>)who misled them. Ec 9:18<\/span>, “Onesinner destroyeth much good” (1Co15:33<\/span>). I prefer to refer it to false doctrine,<\/I> answeringto “persuasion” (Ga 5:8<\/span>).<\/P><\/p>\n A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.<\/strong> A proverbial expression pretty much in use with the Jews; see 1Co 5:6<\/span>, respecting either persons or things; and is in answer to, or prevents an objection that might be made, or something that might be said, in favour of these churches; that their case was not so bad, or the danger they were in so great, as was represented by the apostle; since they were only a few persons that propagated this notion, and but few that received it, at least thoroughly gave into it; and that, if it was an error, it was but a small one, and only regarded a single ritual, or a few rituals of the law; to which the apostle replies, by supposing, but not granting this to be the case, since they were pretty generally declined, and the error was not a slight one, that as a little sour leaven influences and ferments a large mass, or lump of dough, and makes it of the same nature with it, so a small error in doctrine, as it may be thought to be, increases to more ungodliness, and eats as doth a canker; and though a few hands may be first concerned in propagating it, and but few be infected with it, yet these may soon spread the contagion through the whole society: wherefore errors and false teachers should be nipped in the bud, and stopped in their beginnings, how inconsiderable soever they and their tenets may be judged to be.<\/p>\n This proverb Paul has in 1Co 5:6<\/span>. It is merely the pervasive power of leaven that is involved in the proverb as in Mt 13:33<\/span>, not the use of leaven as a symbol of evil. <\/P> <\/p>\n A little leaven [ ] <\/SPAN><\/span>. A proverbial warning, which appears also 1Co 5:6<\/span>. It refers, not to the doctrine of the false teachers, but to the false teachers themselves. Comp. Mr 8:15<\/span>. With the single exception of the parable, Mt 13:33<\/span>, leaven, in Scripture, is always a symbol of evil. Comp. Exo 12:15<\/span>, 19<\/span>; Exo 13:3<\/span>, 7<\/span>; Exo 23:18<\/span>; Lev 2:11<\/span>; Deu 16:3<\/span>. This, however, is no warrant for the nonsense which has been deduced from it, as that Jesus ‘ parable of the leaven contains a prophecy of the corruption of Christianity. Because leaven in Scripture is habitually the type of corruption, we are “none the less free to use it in a good sense as Christ did. One figure need not always stand for one and the same thing. The devil is ‘a roaring lion, ‘ but Christ is also ‘the lion of the tribe of Judah ‘” (Trench). It is an apt figure of secret, pervading energy, whether bad or good. A new interest is given to the figure by Pasteur’s discovery that fermentation is a necessary consequence of the activity and growth of living organisms. 82 A very few of these Judaising intruders are sufficient to corrupt the whole church. <\/P> Lump [] <\/SPAN><\/span>. P o. See on Rom 9:21<\/span>.<\/P> <\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n 1) “A little leaven,”<\/strong> (mikra zume) “A small amount (of) leaven,” putrefaction; This symbolized false doctrine, heresy that was being fed to the Galatian brethren, as if it were gospel truth, 1Co 5:6-7<\/span>.<\/p>\n 2) “Leaveneth the whole lump,”<\/strong> (holon to phurama zumoi) “Leavens or putrefies the whole lump;” a little heresy affects the whole church body or church fellowship, just as a broken finger, or an infected appendix affects and disturbs the whole physical body. Such doctrinal putrefaction should be removed from the church body, lest it spread as the little leaven spreads through the full loaf, Mat 13:33<\/span>; Luk 13:20-21<\/span>; 1Co 15:33-34<\/span>. The “kingdom of heaven”, which always refers to “the church,” must continually exercise discipline to keep herself from Doctrinal and moral putrefaction, in her local fellowship, lest her influence be destroyed, 1Co 5:11<\/span>; 1Co 5:13<\/span>; Rom 16:17<\/span>; 2Th 3:6<\/span>; 2Ti 3:5<\/span>; Tit 1:10<\/span>; 2Jn 1:10<\/span>.<\/p>\n 9. A little leaven. This refers, I think, to doctrine, not to men. It guards them against the mischievous consequences which arise from corruption of doctrine, and warns them not to consider it, as is commonly done, to be a matter attended by little or no danger. Satan’s stratagem is, that he does not attempt an avowed destruction of the whole gospel, but he taints its purity by introducing false and corrupt opinions. Many persons are thus led to overlook the seriousness of the injury done, and therefore make a less determined resistance. The apostle proclaims aloud that, after the truth of God has been corrupted, we are no longer safe. He employs the metaphor of leaven, which, however small in quantity, communicates its sourness to the whole mass. We must exercise the utmost caution lest we allow any counterfeit to be substituted for the pure doctrine of the gospel. <\/p>\n (9) A little leaven . . .<\/strong>A pregnant expression, which leaves a good deal to the reader to supply. The proverb is true which says that a little leaven leavens the whole mass of dough.<\/em> And so, in your case, the malcontents may be few, but they will soon ruin the whole Church. It seems decidedly more in accordance with the context to take the little leaven as referring rather to a few seceders<\/em> than to a little bad doctrine. 9<\/strong>. <\/strong> A little leaven<\/strong> St. Paul now hints from what quarter this Judaistic persuasion <\/strong> comes. It seems to have been derived from a single person, ( who<\/strong>, Gal 5:7<\/span>; he<\/strong>, Gal 5:10<\/span>,) aided by a small party at first, ( they<\/strong>, Gal 5:12<\/span>,) who produced the trouble. <\/em> This is so obvious that we wonder that the great body of commentators refer the leaven <\/strong> to circumcision, on the ground that circumcision, though a little <\/strong> matter, would infect their whole religious state. <\/p>\n Leaven<\/strong> See note on 1Co 5:6<\/span>. <\/p>\n The whole lump<\/strong> Small in numbers as was the party originating the Judaistic schism in the Galatian Church, it was in danger of converting the whole body, as leaven impregnates the whole loaf.<\/p>\n ‘A little leaven leavens the whole lump.’<\/p>\n They must therefore beware. For a small amount of yeast will spread through and affect the whole lump of pastry. So also will a small amount of false teaching affect a large number so that in the end all are affected. Or it can enter the individual mind and gradually possess it until that person is totally affected. Compare 1Co 5:6<\/span>. Here he is stressing the danger that, when something like legalism begins to get a toehold, it is not long before it takes control of the whole. It spreads like yeast throughout the whole mixture. He might also be meaning that it only takes one man with false ideas to come in and then it can infect the group, and soon the whole group is led astray.<\/p>\n 9 A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n Ver. 9. A little leaven<\/strong> ] viz. Of false doctrine,Mat 16:6<\/span>Mat 16:6<\/span> . See Trapp on “<\/em> Mat 16:6 “<\/em> <\/p>\n Gal 5:9<\/span> . Leaven became a type of moral and spiritual corruption in virtue of the fermentation it engenders. A very small lump might readily form a centre of widespread corruption; so stringent precautions were adopted in Jewish households for the removal of every particle before the days of unleavened bread. Hence the origin of the proverb quoted here and in 1Co 5:6<\/span> . It is clear that the taint of heresy had not yet spread widely through the Galatian Churches: it was more its insidious nature than its actual extent that alarmed the Apostle.<\/p>\n A little, &c. This proverb is quoted 1Co 5:6. <\/p>\n lump. Greek. phurama. See Rom 9:21. <\/p>\n Gal 5:9. , a little leaven) One turbulent person, Gal 5:10. [One wicked man destroys much good, Ecc 9:18. The malice, cunning, or violence of a single person, often produces immense injury.-V. g.]<\/p>\n Gal 5:9<\/p>\n Gal 5:9<\/p>\n A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.-An active working principle of God will leaven the whole lump and make all good. As Jesus taught, an active working principle of error and evil will work ruin to a church. This is the lesson here taught. A few evil persons in the churches of Galatia had wrought this evil in turning them away from Christ to the law of Moses. [Evil spreads surely and rapidly, and must be opposed in its beginning it if is to be opposed successfully. It is a serious mistake to despise the day of small things whether of good or evil. (Zec 4:11). Just as one plague- infected person may bring devastation upon a city, so may one teacher of doctrine subversive of the gospel corrupt a whole community of believers.]<\/p>\n Mat 23:33, Mat 16:6-12, Mar 8:15, Luk 12:1, Luk 13:21, 1Co 5:6, 1Co 5:7, 1Co 15:33, 2Ti 2:17 <\/p>\n Reciprocal: Exo 12:8 – unleavened Lev 2:11 – no leaven Mat 13:33 – like<\/p>\n Gal 5:9. -A little leaven the whole lump leaveneth. This is a proverbial saying, delivered here as a warning. Mat 13:33; Mat 16:11; Mar 8:15; Luk 13:21; 1Co 5:6. The figure-applied in a bad sense, save in Mat 13:33, Luk 13:21 -may refer either to the false teachers or to their doctrine. Luther, Chrysostom, Calvin, a Lapide, Matthies, and Meyer refer it to the latter. The meaning in that case is, that the introduction of minute error has a tendency to corrupt the whole mass of truth. Alford differently-corrupts the whole mass of Christians, taking in the abstract and in the concrete. It refers to persons, Rom 11:16, and here the Judaists are in the apostle’s mind. True indeed, as Meyer says, the apostle nowhere lays stress on their number; yet the following might seem to indicate that the Judaists were not many. The question is, Who hindered you? and the assertion that the hindrance was occasioned by the refers to the teachers; so that the proverb may mean, that though like leaven they may appear small in comparison with the lump, yet by assiduity and influence they may and will infect and debase the entire society- being emphatic. Such is the better view, as being more in harmony with the context. Theophylact refers the little leaven to circumcision- ; but that can scarcely be the apostle’s reference: it is the doctrine connected with it which he has chiefly in view. <\/p>\n Gal 5:9. There might be only one or perhaps a few men who were making all the trouble, but the apostle wants them not to be misled by the small. ness of number among the disturbers. He illustrates the idea by the well known truth that a small amount of leaven is all that is necessary to affect the whole mass. This same truth is used in the case of the fornicator at Corinth (1Co 5:6).<\/p>\n Gal 5:9. A little leaven loaveneth the whole lump. A proverbial expression for the all-pervading influence of a good or bad principle. Here used in a bad sense, as 1Co 5:6 and Mar 8:15, and often by rabbinical writers. The Judaizing doctrine of the necessity of circumcision poisons the whole system of Christian doctrine and practice. Others less aptly apply it to the persons of the false teachers who corrupt the mass of the people. In a good sense the figure of the leaven is used of the kingdom of heaven which penetrates all the faculties and powers of man and of society. Mat 13:32; Luk 13:21.<\/p>\n A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. [Paul felt that by this time those who read his letter would be saying that he was censuring the whole church for a course of conduct pursued only by a small minority, but he quotes one of the proverbs of the New Testament (1Co 5:6) to show that the effect of minorities, if tolerated, becomes a menace to majorities.] <\/p>\n Verse 9 <\/p>\n A little leaven, &c.; that is, the error had arisen from the influence of a small number, though it had spread extensively among them. <\/p>\n A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. <\/p>\n Oh, how true and oh how sad to see pastors allowing a person to teach false doctrine in their church. <\/p>\n We decided to try a little church we had knowledge of – the pastor was from a good school so we went to Sunday school. Much to my surprise the teacher was implying that there could be errors in the Scriptures. He suggested that a certain passage might be wrong. Then one of the class seemed to be in agreement with the teacher and by the end of the class it was clear that the entire class had a very low view of inerrancy and of the trustworthiness of the Scriptures. <\/p>\n I was sure that the pastor could not agree to their view of things but decided maybe I’d better check. I called and asked about the class. He told me that the class was a split off from another church that felt comfortable in his church so they had their little class and attended the church. <\/p>\n How ridiculous to allow wolves to have free access to the sheep. Had we been an immature couple in the Lord that wandered into that class we could have received serious false doctrine. <\/p>\n Oh, how dangerous to allow wolves to teach the sheep. When false doctrine is found it must be rooted out for the sake of the sheep and the prosperity of Christ’s church. <\/p>\n 5:9 {8} A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.<\/p>\n (8) He adds this, that he may not seem to contend upon a trifle, warning them diligently (by a metaphor which he borrows of leaven, as Christ himself also did) not to allow the purity of the apostolic doctrine to be infected with the least corruption at all.<\/p>\n A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. 9. Leaven is that small portion of fermented dough which is introduced into the fresh lump of dough, and communicates lightness to the whole mass. It is employed figuratively in Scripture to denote the working of both good and bad influences, and is used both of persons and … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Galatians 5:9”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29112","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29112","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29112"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29112\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
I. <\/strong>Leaven corrupts: evil corrupts.<\/p>\n
II. <\/strong>Leaven infects: evil infects.<\/p>\n
III. <\/strong>Leaves is subtle and secret in its movements: So is evil. It is a virus whose antecedents and consequents it is impossible to trace.<\/p>\n
IV. <\/strong>Leaven is not restricted to one mode of reaching the mass upon which it superinduces its own chemical conditions. It may be inserted by the hand of another, or it may be wafted by a breeze, and fall by its own gravity. So evil works–<\/p>\n
IV. <\/strong>The resultant duties.<\/p>\n
V. <\/strong>The chief instrument in the war against evil is the Cross of Christ. (J. Clifford,<\/em> D. D.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
And, ever widening, slowly silence all:
The little rift within the lovers lute,
Or little pitted speck in garnered fruit,<\/p>\n
I. <\/strong>But because the whole speech is allegorical, let us first open the metaphor with the key of proper analogy,<\/p>\n
II. <\/strong>The allegory thus opened, the special treasure or instruction remains yet to be drawn out. We perceive what the leaven signifies, and what the lump. Now we must consider the relation betwixt a little<\/em> leaven, and the whole<\/em> lump. A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. A little sin <\/strong>infecteth a great deal of righteousness. Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and offend in one point, he is guilty of all (Jam 2:10<\/span>). And upon good reason; for there is a universal corruption, therefore should be a universal sanctification. In that young man that professed himself to have kept the commandments, and Christ began to love him, yet there was a little leaven spoiled all–covetousness. In Herod, though he heard many sermons of Johns preached gladly (and it is some good thing to hear sermons with joy), yet the leaven of Herodias marred all.<\/p>\nFuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible <\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
<\/em><\/p>\nFuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Commentary on the Greek Text of Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians and Phillipians<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Mr. D’s Notes on Selected New Testament Books by Stanley Derickson<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"