Mark 8:15
New International Version
“Be careful,” Jesus warned them. “Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod.”

New Living Translation
As they were crossing the lake, Jesus warned them, “Watch out! Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and of Herod.”

English Standard Version
And he cautioned them, saying, “Watch out; beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.”

Berean Standard Bible
“Watch out!” He cautioned them. “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of Herod.”

Berean Literal Bible
And He was instructing them, saying, "Watch out! Take heed of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod."

King James Bible
And he charged them, saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod.

New King James Version
Then He charged them, saying, “Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.”

New American Standard Bible
And He was giving orders to them, saying, “Watch out! Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and the leaven of Herod.”

NASB 1995
And He was giving orders to them, saying, “Watch out! Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.”

NASB 1977
And He was giving orders to them, saying, “Watch out! Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.”

Legacy Standard Bible
And He was giving orders to them, saying, “Watch out! Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.”

Amplified Bible
Jesus repeatedly ordered them, saying, “Watch out! Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.”

Christian Standard Bible
Then he gave them strict orders: “Watch out! Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.”

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Then He commanded them: “Watch out! Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.”

American Standard Version
And he charged them, saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.

Contemporary English Version
Jesus warned them, "Watch out! Guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and of Herod."

English Revised Version
And he charged them, saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Jesus warned them, "Be careful! Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod!"

Good News Translation
"Take care," Jesus warned them, "and be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod."

International Standard Version
Jesus had been warning them, "Watch out! Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod!"

Majority Standard Bible
“Watch out!” He cautioned them. “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of Herod.”

NET Bible
And Jesus ordered them, "Watch out! Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod!"

New Heart English Bible
He warned them, saying, "Watch out; guard yourselves against the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod."

Webster's Bible Translation
And he charged them saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod.

Weymouth New Testament
and when He admonished them, "See to it, be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod,"

World English Bible
He warned them, saying, “Take heed: beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.”
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
and He was charging them, saying, “Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod,”

Berean Literal Bible
And He was instructing them, saying, "Watch out! Take heed of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod."

Young's Literal Translation
and he was charging them, saying, 'Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod,'

Smith's Literal Translation
And he enjoined them, saying, See ye, look away from the leaven of the Pharisees, and the leaven of Herod.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
And he charged them, saying: Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod.

Catholic Public Domain Version
And he instructed them, saying: “Consider and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the leaven of Herod.”

New American Bible
He enjoined them, “Watch out, guard against the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.”

New Revised Standard Version
And he cautioned them, saying, “Watch out—beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.”
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
And he commanded them and said to them, Look out, and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the leaven of Herod.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And he commanded them and he said to them, “Behold, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the leaven of Herodus.”
NT Translations
Anderson New Testament
And he charged them, saying: Take heed, and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod.

Godbey New Testament
And He commanded them, saying, See, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod.

Haweis New Testament
And he earnestly charged them, saying, Beware, take heed of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod.

Mace New Testament
as he was then directing them diligently to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod,

Weymouth New Testament
and when He admonished them, "See to it, be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod,"

Worrell New Testament
And He was charging them, saying, "Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod."

Worsley New Testament
And therefore as He was giving them a charge, saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod,

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Leaven to Beware
14Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, except for one loaf they had with them in the boat. 15“Watch out!” He cautioned them. “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of Herod.” 16So they began to discuss with one another the fact that they had no bread.…

Cross References
Matthew 16:6
“Watch out!” Jesus told them. “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

Luke 12:1
In the meantime, a crowd of many thousands had gathered, so that they were trampling one another. Jesus began to speak first to His disciples: “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

Galatians 5:9
A little leaven works through the whole batch of dough.

1 Corinthians 5:6-8
Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven works through the whole batch of dough? / Get rid of the old leaven, that you may be a new unleavened batch, as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. / Therefore let us keep the feast, not with the old bread, leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and of truth.

Matthew 23:13
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let in those who wish to enter.

Matthew 23:27-28
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of impurity. / In the same way, on the outside you appear to be righteous, but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

Matthew 3:7
But when John saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his place of baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?

Luke 11:39-42
Then the Lord said, “Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. / You fools! Did not the One who made the outside make the inside as well? / But give as alms the things that are within you, and behold, everything will be clean for you. ...

Luke 11:44
Woe to you! For you are like unmarked graves, which men walk over without even noticing.”

2 Timothy 3:5
having a form of godliness but denying its power. Turn away from such as these!

Isaiah 29:13
Therefore the Lord said: “These people draw near to Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. Their worship of Me is but rules taught by men.

Hosea 7:4
They are all adulterers, like an oven heated by a baker who needs not stoke the fire from the kneading to the rising of the dough.

Amos 4:4-5
“Go to Bethel and transgress; rebel even more at Gilgal! Bring your sacrifices every morning, your tithes every three days. / Offer leavened bread as a thank offering, and loudly proclaim your freewill offerings. For that is what you children of Israel love to do,” declares the Lord GOD.

Jeremiah 5:27-28
Like cages full of birds, so their houses are full of deceit. Therefore they have become powerful and rich. / They have grown fat and sleek, and have excelled in the deeds of the wicked. They have not taken up the cause of the fatherless, that they might prosper; nor have they defended the rights of the needy.

Ezekiel 13:10
Because they have led My people astray, saying, ‘Peace,’ when there is no peace, and whitewashing any flimsy wall that is built,


Treasury of Scripture

And he charged them, saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod.

he charged.

Numbers 27:19-23
And set him before Eleazar the priest, and before all the congregation; and give him a charge in their sight…

1 Chronicles 28:9,10,20
And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the LORD searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever…

1 Timothy 5:21
I charge thee before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels, that thou observe these things without preferring one before another, doing nothing by partiality.

Take.

Proverbs 19:27
Cease, my son, to hear the instruction that causeth to err from the words of knowledge.

Matthew 16:6,11,12
Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees…

Luke 12:1,2,15
In the mean time, when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they trode one upon another, he began to say unto his disciples first of all, Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy…

the leaven of the.

Exodus 12:18-20
In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, ye shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the month at even…

Leviticus 2:11
No meat offering, which ye shall bring unto the LORD, shall be made with leaven: for ye shall burn no leaven, nor any honey, in any offering of the LORD made by fire.

1 Corinthians 5:6-8
Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? …

of Herod.

Mark 12:13
And they send unto him certain of the Pharisees and of the Herodians, to catch him in his words.

Matthew 22:15-18
Then went the Pharisees, and took counsel how they might entangle him in his talk…

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Admonished Beware Care Careful Cautioned Charged Charging Guard Heed Herod Jesus Leaven Orders Pharisees Warned Watch Yeast
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Admonished Beware Care Careful Cautioned Charged Charging Guard Heed Herod Jesus Leaven Orders Pharisees Warned Watch Yeast
Mark 8
1. Jesus feeds the people miraculously;
10. refuses to give a sign to the Pharisees;
14. admonishes his disciples to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Herod;
22. gives a blind man his sight;
27. acknowledges that he is the Jesus who should suffer and rise again;
34. and exhorts to patience in persecution for the profession of the gospel.














Watch out!
The Greek word used here is "ὁράω" (horaō), which means to see, perceive, or take heed. In this context, Jesus is urging His disciples to be vigilant and discerning. This is not merely a physical watching but a spiritual alertness. The call to "watch out" is a reminder of the constant need for spiritual awareness in a world filled with distractions and deceptions. It is a call to be attentive to the teachings and influences that can lead one astray from the truth of the Gospel.

Beware
The Greek word "βλέπετε" (blepete) is used here, which also means to see or to look. However, it carries a deeper connotation of being cautious or on guard. This repetition of the call to vigilance emphasizes the seriousness of the warning. Jesus is not merely suggesting caution but commanding it. The dual emphasis on watching and being aware underscores the importance of recognizing and resisting false teachings and influences.

of the leaven
Leaven, or yeast, in biblical times was a common metaphor for influence, often with a negative connotation. In the Jewish context, leaven was associated with sin and corruption, as seen in the Passover tradition where unleavened bread is used to symbolize purity. The Greek word "ζύμη" (zymē) refers to this fermenting agent that, although small, permeates and affects the whole dough. Jesus uses this metaphor to illustrate how the seemingly small and subtle teachings of the Pharisees and Herod can infiltrate and corrupt one's faith and understanding.

of the Pharisees
The Pharisees were a prominent religious group in Judaism known for their strict adherence to the Law and traditions. However, Jesus often criticized them for their hypocrisy and legalism, which overshadowed the true spirit of the Law. The "leaven of the Pharisees" refers to their self-righteousness, pride, and the elevation of human traditions over God's commandments. This warning serves as a caution against adopting a form of godliness that lacks true spiritual substance and humility.

and of Herod
Herod represents the political and worldly influence that can also corrupt one's faith. Herod Antipas, the ruler of Galilee during Jesus' ministry, was known for his moral corruption and political maneuvering. The "leaven of Herod" symbolizes the secular and political ideologies that can lead believers away from the teachings of Christ. This warning highlights the danger of allowing political power and worldly values to infiltrate and compromise one's spiritual integrity.

(15) He charged them.--The verb is in the imperfect tense, and implies that the command was more than once repeated. Hence they, too, "were reasoning," more than once, what was the meaning of the precept on which so much stress was laid.

The leaven of Herod.--The words imply the presence among the questioners of Mark 8:11 of others besides the Pharisees. On the connection between the "leaven of Herod" and that of "the Sadducees" in Matthew 16:6, see Note on that verse.

Verse 15. - Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod. St. Matthew (Matthew 15:6) says, "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees;" thus St. Mark identifies the leaven of the Sadducees with that of Herod. "Leaven" here means "doctrine." They were not to beware of this, so far as the Pharisees rightly taught and explained the Law of Moses; but only so far as they corrupted that Law by their own vain traditions, contrary to the Law of God, St. Luke (Luke 12:11) calls this leaven "hypocrisy;" because the Pharisees only regarded outward ceremonies, and neglected the inward sanctification of the Spirit. St. Jerome says, "This is the leaven of which the Apostle speaks where he says, 'A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.' Marcion and Valentinus and all heretics have had this kind of leaven, which is on every account to be avoided. Leaven has this property, that, however small it may be in quantity, it spreads its influence rapidly through the mass. And so if only a little spark of heretical doctrine be admitted into the soul, speedily a great flame arises, and envelopes the whole man."

Parallel Commentaries ...


Greek
“Watch out!”
Ὁρᾶτε (Horate)
Verb - Present Imperative Active - 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 3708: Properly, to stare at, i.e. to discern clearly; by extension, to attend to; by Hebraism, to experience; passively, to appear.

He cautioned
διεστέλλετο (diestelleto)
Verb - Imperfect Indicative Middle - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 1291: To give a commission (instructions), order; To admonish, prohibit.

them.
αὐτοῖς (autois)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Dative Masculine 3rd Person Plural
Strong's 846: He, she, it, they, them, same. From the particle au; the reflexive pronoun self, used of the third person, and of the other persons.

“Beware
βλέπετε (blepete)
Verb - Present Imperative Active - 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 991: (primarily physical), I look, see, perceive, discern. A primary verb; to look at.

of
ἀπὸ (apo)
Preposition
Strong's 575: From, away from. A primary particle; 'off, ' i.e. Away, in various senses.

the
τῆς (tēs)
Article - Genitive Feminine Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

yeast
ζύμης (zymēs)
Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular
Strong's 2219: Leaven, ferment, both lit. and met. Probably from zeo; ferment.

of the
τῶν (tōn)
Article - Genitive Masculine Plural
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

Pharisees
Φαρισαίων (Pharisaiōn)
Noun - Genitive Masculine Plural
Strong's 5330: Of Hebrew origin; a separatist, i.e. Exclusively religious; a Pharisean, i.e. Jewish sectary.

and
καὶ (kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

of Herod.”
Ἡρῴδου (Hērōdou)
Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular
Strong's 2264: Compound of heros and eidos; heroic; Herod, the name of four Jewish kings.


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