lev ́-n (שׂאר, se‘ōr, חמץ, ḥāmec; ζύμη, zúmē; Latin fermentum): The nomadic ancestors of the Hebrews, like the Bedouin of today, probably made their bread without leaven; but leaven came to play a great part in their bread-making, their law and ritual, and their religious teaching (see Exodus 12:15, 12:19; 13:7; Leviticus 2:11; Deuteronomy 16:4; Matthew 13:33; 16:6-12; Mark 8:15 f; Luke 12:1; 13:21).
The form of leaven used in bread-making and the method of using it were simple and definite. The “leaven” consisted always, so far as the evidence goes, of a piece of fermented dough kept over from a former baking. There is no trace of the use of other sorts of leaven, such as the lees of wine or those mentioned by Pliny (NH, xviii. 26). The lump of dough thus preserved was either dissolved in water in the kneading-trough before the flour was added, or was “hid” in the flour (the King James Version “meal”) and kneaded along with it, as was the case mentioned in the parable (Matthew 13:33). The bread thus made was known as “leavened,” as distinguished from “unleavened” bread (Exodus 12:15, etc.). See BREAD.
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Author: International Std. Bible Encyclopedia
Keywords: Leaven, Yeast, Leavened
Source: James Orr (editor), The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, 5 volume set.
Page indexed by: inWORD Bible Software.