Topical Bible: Dough: Kneaded

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In biblical times, dough was a fundamental component of daily sustenance and held significant cultural and religious importance. The process of kneading dough is mentioned in various contexts throughout the Scriptures, symbolizing both the provision of God and the labor of human hands.

Biblical References:

1. Exodus 12:34 · "So the people took their dough before it was leavened, carrying it on their shoulders in kneading bowls wrapped in clothing." This verse describes the Israelites' hasty departure from Egypt during the Exodus. The unleavened dough signifies the urgency of their escape and the beginning of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, a lasting ordinance commemorating God's deliverance.

2. Exodus 12:39 · "And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough that they had brought out of Egypt, for it was not leavened, because they were driven out of Egypt and could not delay; they had not prepared any provisions for themselves." This passage highlights the reliance on God's provision during a time of transition and uncertainty, as the Israelites had to trust in Him for their sustenance.

3. Numbers 15:20-21 · "From the first of your dough you shall lift up a cake as an offering; as you lift up an offering from the threshing floor, so you are to lift it up. Throughout your generations, you are to give the LORD an offering from the first of your dough." Here, the dough is part of the firstfruits offering, symbolizing gratitude and acknowledgment of God's provision. This act of giving the first portion to God reflects the principle of dedicating the best and first to Him.

4. Hosea 7:4 · "They are all adulterers, burning like an oven whose fire the baker need not stir from the kneading of the dough until it rises." In this metaphor, the prophet Hosea uses the imagery of kneading dough to describe the people's unfaithfulness and the intensity of their sinful desires. The rising dough represents the unchecked and growing nature of their iniquity.

Cultural and Religious Significance:

In ancient Israel, bread was a staple food, and the process of making it was a daily task, often performed by women. Kneading dough was not only a practical activity but also a communal one, bringing families and communities together. The act of kneading and baking bread was deeply intertwined with religious practices, as seen in the offerings and feasts prescribed in the Law of Moses.

The unleavened bread, or matzah, made from kneaded dough without yeast, became a powerful symbol of purity and separation from sin. It reminded the Israelites of their deliverance from bondage and their call to holiness. The absence of leaven, which causes fermentation and decay, was a metaphor for the removal of sin and corruption.

Spiritual Lessons:

The kneading of dough in the Bible serves as a reminder of God's provision and the importance of dedicating the first and best of our resources to Him. It also illustrates the need for spiritual vigilance, as seen in Hosea's warning against allowing sin to rise unchecked in our lives. The imagery of dough and bread in Scripture points to deeper spiritual truths about dependence on God, the community of faith, and the call to live a life set apart for His purposes.

Nave's Topical Index

Jeremiah 7:18
The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings to other gods, that they may provoke me to anger.
Nave's Topical Index

Hosea 7:4
They are all adulterers, as an oven heated by the baker, who ceases from raising after he has kneaded the dough, until it be leavened.
Nave's Topical Index

Library

On Gen. vii. 6
... They kneaded dough accordingly, and prepared just about as much as might be sufficient
for them, so that nothing should remain over but the very least. ...
/.../the extant works and fragments of hippolytus/section iv on gen vii.htm

The Leaven.
... When the woman who kneaded the dough, and the woman who lost and found the silver
coin, come forward, backed by much learned authority, saying, We are the ...
//christianbookshelf.org/arnot/the parables of our lord/iv the leaven.htm

Leaven
... The 'salt of the earth' is to be rubbed into the meat in order to keep it from
putrefaction; the leaven is to be kneaded up into the dough in order to raise it ...
//christianbookshelf.org/maclaren/expositions of holy scripture b/leaven.htm

The Sleeping Apostle
... because he is, therefore the daily and hourly exhortation is, 'Put on the new man.'
The leaven is buried in the dough, and must be well kneaded up with it if ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture d/the sleeping apostle.htm

Perseverance
... A bone of it shall not be broken.' As it is not possible to sever the leaven and
the dough when they are once mingled and kneaded together, so it is impossible ...
//christianbookshelf.org/watson/a body of divinity/10 perseverance.htm

The Political Constitution of Egypt
... The makers of pancakes and dough-nuts took precedence of the cake-bakers, and those
who concocted delicate fruit preserves ranked higher than the common dryer ...
/.../chapter ithe political constitution of.htm

The Iranian Conquest
... The Ionian mother of his rival furnished the slave who kneaded the bread with poison,
telling her to mix it with the dough, but the woman revealed the intended ...
/.../chapter ithe iranian conquest.htm

The Last Days of the Old Eastern World
History Of Egypt, Chaldaea, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, V 9. <. ...
/.../chapter iithe last days of 2.htm