Mat 13:33 The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.

Here, yeast become the symbol for the invisible spirit that spreads through everything. Yeast is invisible in bread, but it has a visible effect. It also multiplies throughout something, one part changing the whole into itself

My version: The power of the spirit is like yeasted dough, which a woman takes and enfolds into three measures of flour, until it all is yeasted dough.


"Leaven" is sometimes translated as "yeast." It is from the Greek zumê, which means any time of bread or beer "yeast." It is from a root word meaning "to mix." This was a time when yeast didn't come in little packets, but was maintained as a live culture, in this case, in the uncooked bread dough itself. Some of this dough was set aside as a "starter," kept warm in a jar to grow. Then part of that starter mixture was mixed into the fresh dough, which was left to rise and grow the yeast. Interestingly, this term is also used as a metaphor for "corruption" or "infection," which also spreads through things.

"Hid" is from enkruptô which literally means "to hide in" or "to conceal in."

"Whole" is from holos, which means "whole," "complete," and "whole in all its parts."