Matthew 13:32-34
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
32 [a](A)It is the smallest of all the seeds, yet when full-grown it is the largest of plants. It becomes a large bush, and the ‘birds of the sky come and dwell in its branches.’”
The Parable of the Yeast. 33 He spoke to them another parable. “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast[b] that a woman took and mixed with three measures of wheat flour until the whole batch was leavened.”(B)
The Use of Parables. 34 [c](C)All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables. He spoke to them only in parables,
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 13:32 See Dn 4:7–9, 17–19 where the birds nesting in the tree represent the people of Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom. See also Ez 17:23; 31:6.
- 13:33 Except in this Q parable and in Mt 16:12, yeast (or “leaven”) is, in New Testament usage, a symbol of corruption (see Mt 16:6, 11–12; Mk 8:15; Lk 12:1; 1 Cor 5:6–8; Gal 5:9). Three measures: an enormous amount, enough to feed a hundred people. The exaggeration of this element of the parable points to the greatness of the kingdom’s effect.
- 13:34 Only in parables: see Mt 13:10–15.
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