Matius 13:33

The Parable of the Yeast

13:33 He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed with ¹  three measures ²  of flour until all the dough had risen.” ³ 

Matius 19:13

Jesus and Little Children

19:13 Then little children were brought to him for him to lay his hands on them and pray. ⁴  But the disciples scolded those who brought them. ⁵ 

Matius 26:53

26:53 Or do you think that I cannot call on my Father, and that he would send me more than twelve legions ⁶  of angels right now?

[13:33]  ¹ tn Grk “hid in.”

[13:33]  ² sn This measure was a saton, the Greek name for the Hebrew term “seah.” Three of these was a very large quantity of flour, since a saton is a little over 16 pounds (7 kg) of dry measure (or 13.13 liters). So this was over 47 lbs (21 kg) of flour total, enough to feed over a hundred people.

[13:33]  ³ tn Grk “it was all leavened.”

[13:33]  sn The parable of the yeast and the dough teaches that the kingdom of God will start small but eventually grow to permeate everything. Jesus’ point was not to be deceived by its seemingly small start, the same point made in the parable of the mustard seed, which preceded this one.

[19:13]  ⁴ tn Grk “so that he would lay his hands on them and pray.”

[19:13]  ⁵ tn Grk “the disciples scolded them.” In the translation the referent has been specified as “those who brought them,” since otherwise the statement could be understood to mean that the disciples scolded the children rather than their parents who brought them.

[26:53]  ⁶ sn A legion was a Roman army unit of about 6,000 soldiers, so twelve legions would be 72,000.