English Standard Version
Galatians 5:9
9A little leaven leavens the whole lump.
Galatians 5:9 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.
- New International Version (NIV)“A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.”
- New King James Version (NKJV)A little leaven leavens the whole lump.
- New Living Translation (NLT)This false teaching is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough!
Context of Galatians 5:9
7You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? 8This persuasion is not from him who calls you. A little leaven leavens the whole lump. 10I have confidence in the Lord that you will take no other view, and the one who is troubling you will bear the penalty, whoever he is. 11But if I, brothers, still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed.
Read all of Galatians 5Galatians 5:9 word by word
μικρὰ ζύμη ὅλον τὸ φύραμα ζυμοῖ.Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Galatians 5:9
- Matthew 23:33You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?
- Matthew 16:6Jesus said to them, "Watch and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees."
- Mark 8:15And he cautioned them, saying, "Watch out; beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod."
- Luke 12:1In the meantime, when so many thousands of the people had gathered together that they were trampling one another, he began to say to his disciples first, "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.
- Luke 13:21It is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, until it was all leavened."
- 1 Corinthians 5:6Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?
- 1 Corinthians 15:33Do not be deceived: "Bad company ruins good morals."
- 2 Timothy 2:17and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus,
Commentaries on Galatians 5:9
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 9A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump - A proverbial expression, see 1 Corinthians 5:6, very aptly applied to those who receive the smallest tincture of false doctrine, relative to the things essential to salvation, which soon influences the whole conduct, so that the man becomes totally perverted. They might have argued, "It is a small thing, and should not be made a subject of serious controversy, whether we be circumcised or not." Granted, that in…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 9A little leaven - This is evidently a proverbial expression; see it explained in the notes at 1 Corinthians 5:6. Its meaning here is, that the embracing of the errors which they had adopted was to be traced to some influence existing among themselves, and acting like leaven. It may either mean that there was existing among them from the first a slight tendency to conform to rites and customs, and that this had now like leaven pervaded the mass; or it…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 7-12Verses 7-12 The life of a Christian is a race, wherein he must run, and hold on, if he would obtain the prize. It is not enough that we profess Christianity, but we must run well, by living up to that profession. Many who set out fairly in religion, are hindered in their progress, or turn out of the way. It concerns those who begin to turn out of the way, or to tire in it, seriously to inquire what hinders them. The opinion or persuasion, ver. #(8), was…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 9This verse was a common saying (literally A little yeast [or leaven] makes the whole loaf rise; see Matthew 13:33; 16:6, 11–12; 1 Corinthians 5:6–7). Relying a little on the law for God's acceptance can lead to forgetting that Jesus Christ saves by his work alone.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 99. A little leaven--the false teaching of the Judaizers. A small portion of legalism, if it be mixed with the Gospel, corrupts its purity. To add legal ordinances and works in the least degree to justification by faith, is to undermine "the whole." So "leaven" is used of false doctrine (Mt 16:12: compare Mt 13:33). In 1Co 5:6 it means the corrupting influence of one bad person; so Bengel understands it here to refer to the person (Ga 5:7, 8, 10) who…Read the comment
Topics related to Galatians 5:9
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Galatians 5
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Illustrated New Testament
- Burkitt’s Expository Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Family Bible Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- The People’s New Testament
- Robertson’s Word Pictures
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
English Standard Version — © 2001 Crossway Bibles
Commentaries