Matthew 16:11 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Matthew 16:11
How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees?
a separatist · noun — genitive plural masculine, a title
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
of the Sadducees
Σαδδουκαίων.¶Saddoukaiōn
G4523
a Sadducæan (i.e. Tsadokian) · noun — genitive plural masculine, a title
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Matthew 16:6 Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.
Mark 4:40 And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?
Mark 8:21 And he said unto them, How is it that ye do not understand?
Luke 12:56 Ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky and of the earth; but how is it that ye do not discern this time?
John 8:43 Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Matthew 16:5-12
We have here Christ's discourse with his disciples concerning bread, in which, as in many other discourses, he speaks to them of spiritual things under a similitude, and they misunderstand him of carnal things. The occasion of it was, their forgetting to victual their ship, and to take along with them provisions for their family on the other side of the water; usually they carried bread along with them, because they were sometimes in desert places; and when they were not, yet they would not be burthensome. But now they forgot; we will hope it was because their minds and memories were filled with better things. Note, Christ's disciples are often such as have no great forecast for the world.
I…
How is it that ye do not understand,.... That you should be so senseless and void of thought, after such instances, as to imagine, that I concerned myself about what bread you brought with you; one would think you could not but know,
that I spake it not to you concerning bread, taken in a literal sense; but must be thought to speak figuratively and mystically, and to have an higher sense and meaning, when I said to you,
that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the Sadducees; how could you think that I had any regard to the leaven taken in a literal sense, the Pharisees and Sadducees approve or disapprove of?
John Calvin on Matthew 16:5-12
Matthew 16:5-12
Matthew 16:5-12
Mark 8:14-21
Luke 12:1
5. And his disciples, when they had come to the opposite bank, through neglect had not taken bread. [427] 6. And Jesus said to them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. 7. But they considered within themselves, saying, We have not taken bread. [428] 8. And when Jesus knew this, he said to them, Why do you think within yourselves, O you of little faith, that you have not taken bread? 9. Do you not yet understand, and do you not remember those five loaves, when there were five thousand men, and how many baskets you carried away? 10. Nor those seven loaves, when there were four thousand men, and how…
And to teach thee how great the power of His reproof, and how it roused up their slumbering mind, hear what saith the evangelist. For Jesus having said no more, but having reproved them, and added this only, "How is it that ye do not understand, that I spake it not to you concerning bread that ye should beware, but of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees;" He subjoined, saying, "Then understood they that He bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees," although He had not uttered that interpretation. See how much good His reproof wrought. For it both led them away from the Jewish observances, and when they were remiss, made them more heedful, and delivered them from want of faith; so that they were not afraid nor in alarm, if at any time they seemed to have few loaves; nor were they careful about famine, but despised all these things.
Some were distracted by the use of bread and yeast. In order to clarify and enlighten them in a still symbolic way that he was not speaking about literal bread but about yeast as representing teaching, Jesus adds, "How is it that you do not understand that I was not talking to you about bread? Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees." Even though he still had not exposed the literal meaning of his words but continued as before, the disciples would have understood the Savior as referring to the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees as leaven.When Jesus said "beware of the yeast," the disciples understood that he did not tell them to watch out for bread but instead for the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. You, of course, are aware that whenever yeast is used in the law or in the Scripture which follows the law, it refers to teaching. Perhaps then yeast should not be burnt on an altar. Prayers should not have the form of teachings but should be only supplications for good things from God. Now, someone might ask, based on what has been said about the disciples crossing over to the other side, how can anyone who has reached the other side be rebuked as a person with little faith, not yet understanding or remembering what Jesus did? It is not difficult, I think, to answer this. That which has only a part will be done away with before that which is perfect. Little faith is all the faith we can have. Accordingly, we who know in part do not yet fully understand or remember. Therefore we are not able to achieve a mind sufficient and capable of attaining the magnitude and nature of such speculations.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Leaven — (1.) Heb. seor (Ex. 12:15, 19; 13:7; Lev. 2:11), the remnant of dough from the preceding baking which had fermented and become acid. (2.) Heb. hamets, properly “ferment.” In Num. 6:3, “vinegar of…
Sadducees — The origin of this Jewish sect cannot definitely be traced. It was probably the outcome of the influence of Grecian customs and philosophy during the period of Greek domination. The first time they…
Apostles · of the kingdom he — of the kingdom he
Chiding · .On account of their unbelief — .On account of their unbelief
Leaven (Yeast) · .Of the hypocrisy of the Pharisees — .Of the hypocrisy of the Pharisees
Pharisees · .By Jesus — .By Jesus
Pharisees, The · Christ: Declared the doctrines of, to be hypocrisy — Christ: Declared the doctrines of, to be hypocrisy
Reproof · On account of: Not understanding — On account of: Not understanding
Sadducees · Jesus warns his disciples against — Jesus warns his disciples against
Sadducees, The · Christ: Cautioned his disciples against their principles — Christ: Cautioned his disciples against their principles
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Tyndale Open Study Notes on Matthew 16:11-12
Yeast is often a symbol of sin and evil (see Exod 12:8, 15; Lev 6:16-17; Gal 5:9); here it indicates the permeating nature of the deceptive teaching.
