The Fallible Study Bible

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Luke13:20–21

The Parable of the Leaven

✦ Public-domain source — quoted & attributed⚙ AI synthesis — generated, verify

Luke 13:20–21 — The Parable of the Leaven. Each verse below carries the full apparatus: the Berean Standard Bible, the vocalized original (tap any word), and a parsed breakdown of every term transcribed from the interlinear. Synthesized commentary, canonical threads, and the reading of Christ gather at the end, over the whole unit.

20

Again He asked, “To what can I compare the kingdom of God?

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

Kai palin eipen Tini homoiōsō tēn basileian tou Theou

Word by word9 · parsed
ΚαὶKaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
πάλινpalinAgainG3825
√ πάλιν — (adverbially) anew, iAdverb
palin: again, anew Links this parable to the mustard seed (13:18 to 19); Luke, like Matthew 13:31 to 33, sets the two in tandem.
εἶπενeipenHe askedG2036
√ ἔπω — to speak or say (by word or writing)VerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
epō: to speak, say (aorist) Plain verb of speaking; the subject is Jesus (Gill notes the Syriac and Persic versions supply the name).
ΤίνιTiniTo whatG5101
√ τίς — an interrogative pronoun, who, which or what (in direct or indirect questions)Interrogative / Indefinite PronounDative Neuter Singular
tis: who, what (dative) The dative of the thing to which the kingdom will be likened.
ὁμοιώσωhomoiōsōcan I compareG3666
√ ὁμοιόω — to assimilate, iVerbFuture Indicative Active1st Person Singular
homoioō: to liken, assimilate (future) A verb found in only 15 verses, almost all introducing kingdom parables (Matthew 13:24; 18:23; 25:1) or Jesus’ comparisons of “this generation” (Luke 7:31; Matthew 11:16). The future is deliberative: Jesus asks a question that he then answers with an image himself, which signals that the kingdom can be grasped only by analogy, not by direct definition.
τὴνtēntheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Feminine Singular
βασιλείανbasileiankingdomG932
√ βασιλεία — properly, royalty, iNounAccusative Feminine Singular
basileia: kingship, reign, realm Not first a territory but the royal rule of God breaking into history in Jesus’ ministry (compare Luke 11:20; 17:21). Henry: “The kingdom of the Messiah is the kingdom of God.” The parables that follow describe how that reign advances, not merely where it is.
τοῦtouG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Masculine Singular
ΘεοῦTheouof GodG2316
√ θεός — figuratively, a magistrateNounGenitive Masculine Singular
theos: God (genitive) Genitive of possession or source: the reign belongs to God and proceeds from him.
21

It is like leaven that a woman took and mixed into three measures of flour, until all of it was leavened.”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

estin homoia zymē hēn gynē labousa ekrypsen eis tria sata aleurou heōs holon hou ezymōthē

Word by word15 · parsed
ἐστὶνestinIt isG1510
√ εἰμί — I exist (used only when emphatic)VerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
eimi: is Present tense: the comparison is offered as a standing truth about the kingdom.
ὁμοίαhomoialikeG3664
√ ὅμοιος — similar (in appearance or character)AdjectiveNominative Feminine Singular
homoios: like, similar The adjective answers the verb homoiōsō of v. 20: question and answer use the same root.
ζύμῃzymēleavenG2219
√ ζύμη — ferment (as if boiling up)NounDative Feminine Singular
zymē: leaven, ferment A rare noun (11 verses). Everywhere else in the New Testament it pictures corrupting influence: “the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy” (Luke 12:1), and Paul’s “a little leaven leavens the whole lump” (1 Corinthians 5:6; Galatians 5:9), behind which stands the Passover removal of leaven (Exodus 12:15 to 20). Cambridge: “Except in this parable, leaven in Scripture… is used as the type of sin.” Here the image is reversed and only its pervasive, unseen working is in view.
ἣνhēnthatG3739
√ ὅς — the relatively (sometimes demonstrative) pronoun, who, which, what, thatPersonal / Relative PronounAccusative Feminine Singular
γυνὴgynēa womanG1135
√ γυνή — a womanNounNominative Feminine Singular
gynē: woman Kneading was ordinary women’s work. JFB judges it “a refinement” to make the woman stand for the Church; Gill offers allegorical options. The text itself assigns her no separate meaning.
λαβοῦσαlabousatookG2983
√ λαμβάνω — while G138 (αἱρέομαι) is more violent, to seize or remove))VerbAorist Participle ActiveNominative Feminine Singular
lambanō: take (aorist participle) A deliberate act: the leaven is taken up and placed; it does not drift into the meal.
ἔκρυψενekrypsen[and] mixedG2928
√ κρύπτω — to conceal (properly, by covering)VerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
kryptō: hide, conceal by covering The verb of concealment (18 verses), used of the treasure hidden in a field (Matthew 13:44) and of truths “hidden from the wise” (Luke 10:21). The kingdom’s power is placed inside the mass, covered, invisible, and works from within. This matches Pulpit’s point that the work went on “though men suspected it not.”
εἰςeisintoG1519
√ εἰς — to or into (indicating the point reached or entered), of place, time, or (figuratively) purpose (result, etcPreposition
τρίαtriathreeG5140
√ τρεῖς — "three"AdjectiveAccusative Neuter Plural
treis: three Pulpit and JFB both report readings of the number as body, soul, and spirit; JFB rejects them, and Pulpit prefers a symbol of completeness. Cambridge thinks the number simply marks an ordinary large batch.
σάταsatameasuresG4568
√ σάτον — a certain measure for things dryNounAccusative Neuter Plural
saton: seah, a dry measure Found only here and in Matthew 13:33. The Hebrew seah is the measure used in Genesis 18:6, where Sarah prepares three seahs of fine flour for the LORD’s visitors; see the flagged thread.
ἀλεύρουaleurouof flourG224
√ ἄλευρον — flourNounGenitive Neuter Singular
aleuron: flour, meal Rare (2 verses, this parable and its Matthean parallel). The ordinary staple stuff of daily bread is the field in which the kingdom works.
ἕωςheōsuntilG2193
√ ἕως — a conjunction, preposition and adverb of continuance, until (of time and place)Preposition
heōs: until Marks the end point of the process: the leaven works until nothing is left untouched.
ὅλονholonallG3650
√ ὅλος — "whole" or "all", iAdjectiveNominative Neuter Singular
holos: whole, entire The goal is total permeation. JFB reads it as the Gospel’s “all-penetrating and assimilating quality”; Pulpit as the kingdom one day reaching all nations.
οὗhouof itG3739
√ ὅς — the relatively (sometimes demonstrative) pronoun, who, which, what, thatPersonal / Relative PronounGenitive Masculine Singular
ἐζυμώθηezymōthēwas leavenedG2220
√ ζυμόω — to cause to fermentVerbAorist Indicative Passive3rd Person Singular
zymoō: to leaven (aorist passive) Only 4 verses: here, Matthew 13:33, 1 Corinthians 5:6, and Galatians 5:9. In Paul the same verb describes how corruption spreads; here it describes how the kingdom spreads. The aorist views the process as complete, and the passive points away from the dough to the agent that works on it.

The verse-by-verse work is done. What follows gathers the whole unit. All three layers below are machine-generated (⚙). Weigh them; they have no authority.

⚙

Grand Commentary — the unit, read whole

synthesis · verify

AI synthesis — woven from the public-domain voices above and the original text; generated and fallible.

i. The question that invites a picture — 13:20

Luke opens with πάλιν, “again,” and so ties this saying to the mustard seed just before it (13:18 to 19). The deliberative future ὁμοιώσω (“shall I liken?”) shows that the reign of God is taught here by analogy, not by definition. Henry reads both parables as “the progress of the gospel foretold” and identifies “the kingdom of the Messiah” with “the kingdom of God.” Gill weighs three referents for “kingdom” (the gospel, the church, grace in the heart) and prefers the first. JFB distinguishes the pair: the mustard seed points “chiefly to the outward” growth, the leaven “perhaps” to the inward.

ii. Leaven hidden, flour transformed — 13:21

The image is domestic and surprising. ζύμη is a word Scripture otherwise uses for corruption. Cambridge says so plainly, citing Luke 12:1, the Passover laws, and Paul, and then limits the point here to the leaven’s “rapid, and unseen, and effectual working.” The verb is not “mixed” but ἔκρυψεν, “hid”: the agent goes into the mass out of sight. Pulpit develops this as the hidden, quiet spread of the Master’s doctrine “though men suspected it not,” and links it to the Servant who will “not strive, nor cry” (Matthew 12:19). Pulpit’s chemistry also makes the paradox explicit: a lump of sour dough turns the whole batch into “wholesome, agreeable food.”

iii. Until the whole: the reach and the restraint of interpretation — 13:21

The parable ends at ἕως… ὅλον… ἐζυμώθη: “until the whole was leavened.” JFB sees the Gospel’s “all-penetrating and assimilating quality” that will finally show one “Kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ” (Revelation 11:15). Pulpit reads a long, slow history ahead before that day. On the details, the voices urge restraint. JFB calls the woman-as-Church reading “a refinement” and finds the threefold “spirit, soul, and body” or sons-of-Noah readings unsatisfying. Cambridge warns that pressing details “only leads to arbitrary exegesis and false theology.” Gill is the outlier: he sets beside the gospel reading an alternative in which the leaven is the error of the apostate church. This tool notes that Luke’s own framing (“the kingdom of God… is like leaven”) weighs against that alternative.

Read under Sola Scriptura — this tool’s own fallible reading (⚙)

⚙ Read on its own terms, the parable makes one claim with three movements. A small agent is placed (labousa), hidden (ekrypsen), and it works until the whole is changed (heōs… ezymōthē). The passive “was leavened” keeps the power in the leaven, not in the flour. Luke’s choice of a word that Scripture elsewhere ties to corruption seems deliberate: the kingdom enters the ordinary stuff of human life as invisibly and as thoroughly as sin does, but to heal rather than to spoil. The parable promises thoroughness, not visibility or speed. It warns readers against measuring the kingdom by what can be seen. It does not explain the woman, the number three, or a timetable, and this reading declines to supply them. Offered to be tested against Matthew 13:33 and the wider canon.

What corrupts by hiding, the kingdom outdoes by hiding: the leaven is buried, and the whole batch rises.

⚙

Canonical Threads — out to the whole of Scripture

cross-refs · verify

AI-generated connections. Each carries a verification badge with a recorded basis; contested links are flagged.

The Matthean twin: the same parable, word for word in its rarest terms verbal / quotation: confirmed

Matthew 13:33 gives the same parable, again paired with the mustard seed. The Verifier finds shared lexemes that occur almost nowhere else: ἄλευρον and σάτον (each in only 2 verses, these two), together with ζύμη and ζυμόω. This is a synoptic parallel, not a quotation of one by the other. Barnes, Gill, and Henry all send the reader to Matthew 13 for the full exposition.

Matthew 13:33

basis: Verifier pair: shared G224 ἄλευρον (in 2 vv), G4568 σάτον (in 2 vv), G2220 ζυμόω (in 4 vv), G2219 ζύμη (in 11 vv); synoptic parallel of the same saying

“A little leaven leavens the whole lump”: the same image, the opposite valence verbal / quotation: confirmed

Paul twice uses the proverb with the same three words: ζύμη, ζυμόω, ὅλος. In both places it warns: tolerated sin in Corinth (1 Corinthians 5:6 to 8, set against Christ “our Passover”), and the Judaizing teaching in Galatia (Galatians 5:9). The mechanism is the same as in Luke 13:21 (small, hidden, total), but the effect is reversed. Cambridge lists both as evidence that leaven is elsewhere “the type of sin.”

1 Corinthians 5:6 · Galatians 5:9 · 1 Corinthians 5:8

basis: Verifier: shared G2219 ζύμη (in 11 vv), G2220 ζυμόω (in 4 vv), G3650 ὅλος (in 97 vv); a shared rare image and vocabulary, not a quotation of Luke

The other leaven: hypocrisy of the Pharisees verbal / quotation: confirmed

Only a chapter earlier, Jesus warns, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy” (Luke 12:1; compare Matthew 16:6, 11 to 12; Mark 8:15). The same rare noun ζύμη names a hidden influence that spreads. Luke’s reader therefore meets two rival leavens: one that corrupts the whole, and the kingdom that transforms the whole.

Luke 12:1 · Matthew 16:6 · Matthew 16:12 · Mark 8:15

basis: Verifier: shared G2219 ζύμη (in 11 vv); lexical link within contrasting usage, no quotation claimed

The paired parable and the hidden treasure structural / thematic: confirmed

Luke 13:18 opens the mustard seed with the same comparison verbs (ὁμοιόω, 15 verses; ὅμοιος), so the two parables form one unit. Matthew 13:44 shares κρύπτω (18 verses): the kingdom is like treasure “hidden” in a field. These links establish a pattern of hiddenness and comparison in the kingdom parables. They do not quote one another.

Luke 13:18 · Matthew 13:44

basis: Verifier: Luke 13:18 shares G3666 ὁμοιόω (in 15 vv), G3664 ὅμοιος (in 41 vv), G932; Matthew 13:44 shares G2928 κρύπτω (in 18 vv), G3664, G932; a shared parable formula and motif

Three seahs of flour: Sarah’s baking for the divine visitors? flagged: verify source

Genesis 18:6 has Abraham tell Sarah to knead “three seahs of fine flour” for the LORD’s visitors at Mamre. σάτον is the Greek form of the seah, so the quantity matches, and some interpreters see an echo. The Verifier finds no shared lexeme, as expected across Testaments, and no voice in this brief makes the link. Cambridge thinks three measures was simply “the ordinary amount” of a batch, which would explain both texts without any allusion. Recorded only as a possibility to test.

Genesis 18:6

basis: Verifier pair: no shared original-language lexeme (cross-Testament); the link rests only on the matching quantity (three seahs) and is not attested by any voice in this brief

Passover leaven and the reversal of the image structural / thematic: confirmed

Cambridge cites Exodus 12:15 to 20 (the removal of all leaven at Passover) as the background that makes leaven a figure of corruption. That law stands behind Paul’s “Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed” (1 Corinthians 5:7). Luke’s parable reverses the image this tradition gives leaven. The link runs across the Testaments and is a matter of pattern, not shared Greek and Hebrew lexemes, so it is tiered structural.

Exodus 12:15 · 1 Corinthians 5:7

basis: Cross-Testament motif (leaven as corruption in Passover law) named by Cambridge; Greek and Hebrew cannot share Strong's numbers, so no verbal claim

⚙Christ in the Unittypology · verify

AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.

The hidden King who does not cry in the streets ancient/widely-held

⚙ The leaven’s concealed working matches the shape of Jesus’ own ministry. Pulpit makes the link explicitly, citing the Servant Song as applied to Jesus in Matthew 12:19 (“He shall not strive, nor cry”), and notes that at his death it seemed his work had been crushed. Yet “the secret and powerful influence was already at work.” The kingdom advances in the manner of its King: lowly, unseen, and in the end irresistible. Reading the parable through Jesus’ hidden messiahship is widely held, and Henry identifies the kingdom here as “the kingdom of the Messiah.”

Matthew 12:19 · Isaiah 42:2

Until the whole: the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ ancient/widely-held

⚙ Heōs… holon looks to a goal. JFB reads it as the day when the whole earth shows one “Kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ” (Revelation 11:15). Daniel’s stone that becomes a mountain and fills the earth (Daniel 2:35) offers a similar Old Testament picture of total reach. This tool supplies the Daniel link; JFB names only Revelation. The Christological end of the kingdom parables is the common reading of the voices here (JFB, Pulpit, Gill’s gospel reading).

Revelation 11:15 · Daniel 2:35

Christ our Passover and the new leaven novel

⚙ Paul calls for the old leaven to be cleared out because “Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed” (1 Corinthians 5:7). Read beside that, the parable suggests that what Christ’s death removes (the corrupt leaven), his reign replaces with another kind of leaven, which works through the whole. This reading of the two leavens together is the tool’s own synthesis, offered tentatively. The voices here note only that Luke’s positive use of leaven is exceptional (Cambridge).

1 Corinthians 5:7 · Luke 12:1

Apparatus & Provenance

The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). Hebrew/Greek text, transliteration, morphology and Strong’s are transcribed from the Berean interlinear (CC0) + Strong’s lexicons (PD); the literal renderings, divergence notes, word notes and all synthesis are this tool’s own work (⚙) — fallible; verify them.

Named voices, quoted verbatim from public-domain works:

  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, — (1880s)
  • Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory (1871)
  • John Gill, Exposition of the Entire Bible (1746–63)
  • Matthew Henry, Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible (1706)
  • The Pulpit Commentary, Spence & Exell, eds. (1880s)

Text: the two verses are textually stable for this purpose. Sources: of the eight commentators in the brief, Barnes and Poole only cross-reference other notes (Matthew 13; Luke 13:20), and the Geneva entries reproduce the verse text without a gloss, so none of the three is quoted. Henry’s note covers 13:18 to 22 as a block, and the same JFB entry is attached to both verses. Cambridge’s note on v. 21 is cut off mid-sentence in the source (“the ordinary amount which a”); the full-text check returned the same truncation, so nothing after that point is relied on. Lexical: saton as the Greek form of the Semitic seah is standard lexicography, but the brief’s lexicon gives only “a certain measure for things dry.” The Genesis 18:6 link is flagged because the Verifier found no shared lexeme and no voice here attests it. Gill’s alternative reading (leaven as false doctrine) is reported and not adopted, because Luke’s framing likens the kingdom itself to the leaven.

✦ = human, public-domain source, quoted and named. ⚙ = machine synthesis, to be verified. Flagged cross-references are left visible on purpose — the verifier working in the open. “Search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)