Unleavened bread — Meaning in the Bible
Bread made without yeast. Israel left Egypt in haste with unleavened dough, and the Feast of Unleavened Bread followed Passover each year.
What it means
The people took their dough before it was leavened because they were driven out quickly. For seven days each year they ate unleavened bread to remember. Exodus 12:33–39Exodus 12:15–20Exodus 13:6–8
Paul uses yeast as a picture of spreading wrong and calls believers to keep the feast "with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth". 1 Corinthians 5:6–8
Key passages
- Exodus 12:15–20 — Seven days of unleavened bread.
- Exodus 12:33–39 — Dough without yeast.
- Mark 14:12 — The first day of unleavened bread.
- 1 Corinthians 5:6–8 — Sincerity and truth.
Original language
מַצָּה mats.tsah
Hebrew · Strong’s H4682 · gloss: “unleavened bread”
The Hebrew word matstsah. Exodus 12:15
A Strong’s number is a reference identifier, not a complete definition: what a word means in a passage depends on its context. Lexical data: STEPBible.org, based on work at Tyndale House Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).