A little leaven corrupteth the whole lump.
μικρα ζυμη ολον το φυραμα ζυμοι
9 Church Fathers comment on this verse
Lest someone say, "Why do you magnify the matter so much and present it as so dreadful? We kept only one commandment of the law, and you make such an outcry," Paul frightens them not by their present act, but by the consequences that will come from it. Listen to his words: "A little leaven leavens the whole lump" (Gal 5:9). "So also," he says, "this small fault, if left uncorrected, can overcome you and draw you completely into Judaism, just as leaven leavens dough."
So that they might not say, "Why do you rebuke us so strongly, since we violated only one commandment, and magnify our guilt?" he says that this seemingly insignificant matter causes essential harm. For as leaven, though small, by itself leavens and changes the whole lump, so circumcision, though it is only one commandment, draws you into Judaism in its entirety.
Every teaching is like leaven. Into whomever it is placed, it leavens that person's mind with itself, as leaven works through dough.
In our collections of the sacred books there is a poor translation: "A little leaven corrupts the whole lump." Thus the translator rendered his own meaning rather than the Apostle's words.
The Apostle expresses this same thought in the Epistle to the Corinthians. He commands that the man who has his father's wife be cast out from among them. This is for the wasting and humbling of his flesh through fasting and suffering, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord. Others add: "of our Jesus Christ."
Indeed the Apostle says: "Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven corrupts the whole lump?" (1 Cor 5:5-6). Or, as we have already rendered it: "A little leaven leavens the whole dough." Immediately afterward he adds: "Cleanse out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, as you are unleavened. For Christ our Passover has been sacrificed. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with the old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth" (1 Cor 5:7-8).
Now by the same instruction he teaches that the spiritual Bread of the Church, Who comes down from heaven, must not suffer violence from a Jewish interpretation. The Lord gave the same command to His disciples, namely, that they should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees (Jn 6). The Evangelist makes this clearer by adding: "He spoke to them of the teaching of the Pharisees" (Mt 16:12).
What other teaching of the Pharisees is meant, if not the observance of the Law according to the flesh? Thus the meaning is this. Do not think that the snares of those few men, who come from Judea and teach otherwise, should be treated with contempt.
A spark is something small, and is hardly even seen while it appears. Yet if fire, however small, falls upon a hearth and finds food for itself, it destroys walls, cities, and vast forests, and lays waste whole lands.
So too leaven, presented in another sense in the parable (Lk 13:20-21), seems a small and even insignificant thing. Yet when, joined with flour, it leavens the whole lump by its sourness, the entire mixture yields to its power.
In the same way perverse teaching begins with one man and at first finds barely one or two hearers. Little by little it spreads like cancer in the body. As the popular saying has it, one diseased animal infects the whole flock.
Therefore the spark must be quenched as soon as it appears. The leaven must be removed from the dough. The infected piece must be cut away from the flesh. The diseased animal must be driven from the flock of sheep.
Otherwise the whole house will burn, the dough will sour, the body will rot, and the flock will perish. Arius in Alexandria was one spark. Since he was not quenched at once, the flame from him seized the whole world.
Every fermentation is a corruption of bread. If bread is corrupted, then the flour is corrupted also. Dough made from flour, if left alone, turns sour, and so fermentation takes place. Thus a little leaven leavens the whole lump. But you, Paul says, ought to be unleavened. Therefore what you consider an insignificant addition, the observance of circumcision and the rest, corrupts our whole Gospel, since this insignificant addition itself is corrupted. Because of it you no longer have the fullness of hope in Christ. Christ no longer counts you as His own and as those who hope in Him. Faith liberates. But, as was said, the one who, besides Christ and though with Christ, also hopes in other helps has no faith.
"A little leaven leavens the whole lump." The Apostle frightens the Galatians about communion with the Judaizers, showing that one concession to error brings after it a whole series of errors and complete corruption.
"A little leaven leavens the whole lump." The Apostle added this so that they would not think there would be no harm to the grace of faith if they observed some small part of the law (Ambrose).
Having shown the true path to salvation, the Apostle tells the Galatians that they had been walking well upon it. Then someone turned them from this path, certainly not the Lord, in Whose name the Apostles preach, but false teachers.
Their falling away is not final, but this Judaizing is like leaven (Mt 16:12). Whoever receives even a little of it may turn aside completely into Judaism. Therefore it is clearly necessary to hasten to be rid of this dangerous leaven.
Blessed Jerome writes: "In conversion, one thing is God's work, and another is the work of men. God's work is to call. The work of men is to believe or not to believe. If we incline toward good or toward evil, God is not the cause, nor is the devil. Our persuasion is always not from the one who calls, but from us, who by ourselves consent or do not consent to the one calling."
"What, then, followed from this? It followed that you yourselves were convinced of the truth, and you yourselves wavered in this conviction. Now you yourselves must return to it. There is no labor and no hindrance here. Cast away the new lie and take up the former truth. For evil acts like a spark fallen upon combustible matter, like gangrene that has found fat" (Bishop Theophan).
To the Apostle's reproach, You were convinced, so why did you change your convictions? return to the former one, the Galatians could have said: We are convinced even now. Is it such a great matter that, after listening to others, we accepted something Jewish? It is so little that it is not worth speaking of. To this the Apostle answers: A little leaven leavens the whole lump. You have not accepted much that is Jewish, but you have leavened everything with Judaism. You have damaged the wholeness of faith, and it can no longer bring you its full saving power. Moreover, this small thing will lead to something greater and draw you into Judaism in its whole breadth. Evil is contagious. St.
Chrysostom says concerning this: Lest someone say, Why do you exaggerate the matter so greatly and present it as so grievous? We have kept only one commandment from the Law, and you make such an uproar. Listen how he frightens them not by their present action, but by the consequences that will arise from it. A little leaven, he says, leavens the whole mixture. So too this small fault of yours, if left uncorrected, can completely overcome you and draw you into Judaism, just as leaven leavens the whole dough. So also all the Eastern Fathers speak, and so do the Western. Ambrosiaster says: The Apostle added this so that they would not think that the grace of faith would suffer no harm if they kept some small thing from the Law. Blessed Jerome first expresses the same thought, saying: By this parable the Apostle teaches that the spiritual bread of the Church, which came down from heaven, must not be corrupted by Jewish interpretations. The Lord Himself commanded His disciples to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees. Explaining this, the Evangelist added that He said this to them about withdrawal from the teaching of the Pharisees (see Mt 16:12). And what else is this Pharisaic teaching if not the insistence on observing the fleshly Law? But then he also mentions how a few people with false teaching can damage an entire local Church. First two or three, then tens, and so on, begin to be infected by their teaching. This evil acts like a spark fallen into combustible material, like gangrene that has found fat. Arius is an obvious example of this. Yet this thought about the number of people who tempt and are tempted can only be secondary to the main thought. Here the Jewish teaching is meant. But if we place this thought in connection with the following words, I have confidence in you, we must admit that the Apostle also hinted at the ease with which they could deal with Judaism. It is as though he says: Have you adopted little? Then it is easier for you to cast it off. Cast it off; I trust that you will do so.
Passages read together with this verse.
Greek text, 6 words with lemma, transliteration and Strong’s number. Tap to expand.
THEOSIS