Matthew 13:33

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 13:33

Parable of the leaven. This parable directs our attention to two points connected with the extension of Christianity. It illustrates I. THE CHANGE OUR LORD MEANT TO EFFECT IN THE WORLD was to be a change not so much of outward forms as of the spirit and character of all things. The propagation of his influence is set forth and illustrated, not by a woman taking a mass of dough and making it into new shapes, but by a woman putting that into the dough which alters the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 13:33

The force there may be in quiet things. "Like leaven." The word "leaven" means "something that raises," from the mode of its operation. In one way it corrupts; in another way it makes edible and wholesome. Leaven consists of myriads of the cells of the common green mould in an undeveloped state. It is at once a principle of destruction and construction, of decay and of growth, of death and of life. In this parable our Lord seems to fix attention on the very silent, quiet, hidden, yet... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Matthew 13:33

The kingdom of heaven - The meaning here is the same as in the last parable; perhaps, however, intending to denote more properly the secret and hidden nature of piety in the soul. The other parable declared the “fact” that the gospel would greatly spread, and that piety in the heart would greatly increase. This states the “way” or “mode” in which it would be done. It is secret, silent, steady; pervading all the faculties of the soul and all the kingdoms of the world, as leaven, or yeast, though... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Matthew 13:33

Matthew 13:33. Another parable spake he unto them With a view still further to illustrate the progress of the gospel in the world, and of true religion in the soul. The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman hid That is, covered up; in three measures of meal Which seems to have been the quantity that they usually baked at once; till the whole was leavened For although the leaven seemed lost for a while in the mass of dough, it secretly wrought through it by a speedy... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Matthew 13:24-43

55. Wheat and weeds; mustard seed; yeast (Matthew 13:24-43; Mark 4:30-34; Luke 13:18-21)In another parable, two types of seed produce two types of plants in the same field. The plants, wheat and weeds, are not separated while they are growing, but are left till harvest time. Then the wheat is put into the farmer’s barn but the weeds are destroyed (Matthew 13:24-30).As with the parable of the sower, Jesus gave his disciples an interpretation (Matthew 13:34-36; cf. v. 10,16-18). In the present... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Matthew 13:33

leaven = sour dough. Always used in a bad sense, as meal is in a good sense: therefore the common interpretation as to the Gospel's improving the world is the exact contrary of the leaven corrupting the whole of the meal. The same is true of the symbol of the "woman", see below. The Lord mentions three kinds of leaven, all of which were evil in their working: the leaven (1) of the Pharisees = hypocrisy or formalism (Luke 12:1 ); (2) of the Pharisees and Sadducees = evil doctrine or teaching... read more

James Burton Coffman

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Matthew 13:33

Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till it was all leavened.IV. The Parable of the Leaven in Three Measures of MealThere is a long list of expositors who make the leaven in this parable something evil and the parable itself a prophecy of the ultimate corruption of the church during the apostasy, basing their claims upon the fact that leaven is almost always used in Scripture as a type of something... read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Matthew 13:33

Matthew 13:33. The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven— The meaning of this parable is commonly thought to be the same as that of the preceding; but there seems to be this difference between them; the parable of the grain of mustard seed represents the smallness of the Gospel in its beginnings, together with its subsequent greatness; whereas the parable of the leaven, which, being hid in a quantity of meal, fermented the whole, expresses in a very lively manner both the nature and strength of... read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Matthew 13:33

33. Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened—This parable, while it teaches the same general truth as the foregoing one, holds forth, perhaps, rather the inward growth of the kingdom, while "the Mustard Seed" seems to point chiefly to the outward. It being a woman's work to knead, it seems a refinement to say that "the woman" here represents the Church, as the instrument of... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Matthew 13:1-53

C. Adaptations because of Israel’s rejection of Jesus 13:1-53"The die is cast. The religious leaders have openly declared their opposition to their Messiah. The people of Israel are amazed at the power of Jesus and His speech, but they fail to recognize Him as their King. Not seeing the Messiahship of Jesus in His words and works, they have separated the fruit from the tree. Because of this opposition and spiritual apathy, the King adapts His teaching method and the doctrine concerning the... read more

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