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UNLEAVENED BREAD
Bread made without leaven (yeast). In ancient times, bread makers used a piece of dough remaining from a former baking process, a piece that had fermented and developed a certain acid content—the yeast that caused bread to rise.
Bread used at the Jewish Passover and most other religious observances was, by the command of God, unleavened (Ex 12:15-20; 23:15). Only under certain conditions were the people permitted to use leavened bread for spiritual purposes (Lv 7:13; 23:17). This was largely owing to the fact that leaven generally symbolized evil; fermentation implied decay and corruption.
With the exception of Jesus’ teaching on the kingdom of God (Mt 13:33), the NT also speaks of leaven with a negative connotation. Jesus warned of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees (16:6); Paul exhorted believers to guard against that tiny bit of yeast—unhealthy values—that can work through a whole batch of dough (1 Cor 5:6-8).
See also Bread; Food and Food Preparation; Leaven.