The Meaning of Luke 13:21 Explained

Luke 13:21

KJV: It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.

YLT: It is like leaven, which a woman, having taken, did hide in three measures of meal, till that all was leavened.'

Darby: It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal until the whole was leavened.

ASV: It is like unto leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till it was all leavened.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

It is  like  leaven,  which  a woman  took  and hid  in  three  measures  of meal,  till  the whole  was leavened. 

What does Luke 13:21 Mean?

Context Summary

Luke 13:18-30 - The Penalty Of Neglected Opportunity
Notice here the inward movement and the outward effect of the gospel whether in the heart or in the world of men. The garden and the kitchen, the lives of men and women, respectively yield the same lesson. Though the seed of the divine nature is sown in secret, it cannot remain secret, but works its way into manifestation. Man's method is from without inward; God's, from within outward. You cannot estimate the results when a little child receives the incorruptible seed, 1 Peter 1:23.
But the entrance into the full power and blessedness of Christ is by a narrow way. The strait gate is open to all, but it means that we have to deny and leave behind all that is carnal, whether good or bad in the estimate of men, so that the divine life may have the entire field. Merely to eat and drink in Christ's presence betrays a self-indulgence which is foreign to His Spirit. You may sit at the Lord's table and yet be a worker of iniquity! We may be first in privilege, but last in grace. Luke 13:29-30 remind us of Acts 10:34-35 and Romans 2:13. [source]

Chapter Summary: Luke 13

1  Jesus preaches repentance upon the punishment of the Galilaeans and others
6  The fruitless fig tree may not stand
10  He heals the crooked woman;
18  shows the powerful working of the word, by the parable of the grain of mustard seed,
20  and of leaven;
22  exhorts to enter in at the strait gate;
31  and reproves Herod and Jerusalem

Greek Commentary for Luke 13:21

Leaven []
See on Matthew 13:33. [source]

What do the individual words in Luke 13:21 mean?

Like it is to leaven which having taken a woman hid in of meal measures three until it was leavened all
ὁμοία ἐστὶν ζύμῃ ἣν λαβοῦσα γυνὴ ἔκρυψεν εἰς ἀλεύρου σάτα τρία ἕως οὗ ἐζυμώθη ὅλον

ὁμοία  Like 
Parse: Adjective, Nominative Feminine Singular
Root: ὅμοιος  
Sense: like, similar, resembling.
ἐστὶν  it  is 
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular
Root: εἰμί  
Sense: to be, to exist, to happen, to be present.
ζύμῃ  to  leaven 
Parse: Noun, Dative Feminine Singular
Root: ζύμη  
Sense: leaven.
λαβοῦσα  having  taken 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Participle Active, Nominative Feminine Singular
Root: λαμβάνω  
Sense: to take.
γυνὴ  a  woman 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Feminine Singular
Root: γυνή  
Sense: a woman of any age, whether a virgin, or married, or a widow.
ἔκρυψεν  hid 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular
Root: κρύπτω  
Sense: to hide, conceal, to be hid.
ἀλεύρου  of  meal 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Neuter Singular
Root: ἄλευρον  
Sense: wheat flour, meal.
σάτα  measures 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Neuter Plural
Root: σάτον  
Sense: a kind of dry measure, 3 gallons (4 litres).
τρία  three 
Parse: Adjective, Accusative Neuter Plural
Root: τρεῖς 
Sense: three.
ἕως  until 
Parse: Preposition
Root: ἕως  
Sense: till, until.
ἐζυμώθη  was  leavened 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Indicative Passive, 3rd Person Singular
Root: ζυμόω  
Sense: to leaven.