G2219 — ζύμη (zymē)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: G2219
Original: ζύμη
Transliteration: zymē
Pronunciation: dzoo'-may
Part of Speech: Feminine noun
Root: Probably from ζέω (zeō) — to boil, seethe
Occurrences: 13 tokens in 11 unique verses (5 books)
First Occurrence: Mat 13:33 — "The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened."
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

Ferment (as if boiling up); leaven. Probably from ζέω (zeō, "to boil"). The noun denotes the fermenting agent itself — a lump of old dough retained to start fermentation in a new batch.

Louw-Nida Semantic Domain¶

Domain 5.1: Food — ζύμη listed alongside ἄζυμος (G106), ἄλευρον (G224), ἄρτος (G740), ζυμόω (G2220)
Domain 88.29: Hypocrisy, Pretense — figurative extension; other words: ὑπόκρισις (G5272), πρόφασις (G4392), κονιάω (G2867), συνυποκρίνομαι (G4942)

The dual-domain assignment reflects the word's literal (food preparation) and figurative (moral influence) range.

UBS Semantic Domains¶

[005] Foods and Condiments
[088] Moral and Ethical Qualities and Related Behavior

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
leaven	10	90.9%
the leaven	1	9.1%
unto leaven	1	9.1%

KJV renders this word uniformly as "leaven" in all 11 verses.

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
1 Corinthians	3	0.69
Galatians	1	0.67
Matthew	4	0.37
Luke	2	0.17
Mark	1	0.15

Concentrated in the Synoptic Gospels (7 of 11 verses) and Pauline epistles (4 of 11). Absent from John, the General Epistles, and Revelation. Paul uses it exclusively in moral/ecclesiastical contexts; the Synoptics split between parabolic (Mat 13:33, Luk 13:21) and warning (Mat 16:6-12, Mar 8:15, Luk 12:1).

Morphological Distribution¶

Case	Count	Context
Genitive (GSF)	6	"leaven of the Pharisees" warning constructions
Dative (DSF)	4	"like unto leaven," "with old leaven," "leaven of malice"
Nominative (NSF)	2	"a little leaven leaveneth..." (subject of proverb)
Accusative (ASF)	1	"purge out the old leaven" (direct object)

The genitive dominates — ζύμη most often appears as a possessive/qualitative modifier ("leaven of X"), identifying whose influence is in view.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Parabolic Image of Pervasive Growth — Kingdom of Heaven¶

Mat 13:33 — "The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened."
Luk 13:21 — "It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened."

The only positive usage. Leaven as an image of hidden, pervasive transformation — a small amount works through an entire batch. Paired with the mustard seed parable (small beginnings → total penetration).

2. Warning Against Corrupting Doctrine — Pharisees and Sadducees¶

Mat 16:6 — "Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees."
Mat 16:11 — "I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees."
Mat 16:12 — "Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees."
Mar 8:15 — "Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod."

Jesus explicitly identifies leaven with "doctrine" (Mat 16:12). Mark adds Herod as a third source. The danger is that false teaching, like leaven, silently permeates everything it contacts.

3. Warning Against Hypocrisy¶

Luk 12:1 — "Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy."

Luke's parallel identifies the leaven specifically as ὑπόκρισις (hypocrisy), narrowing the Matthean "doctrine" to its moral dimension. This usage underlies the Louw-Nida 88.29 domain assignment.

4. Moral Contamination in the Congregation¶

1 Cor 5:6 — "Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?"
1 Cor 5:7 — "Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us."
1 Cor 5:8 — "Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth."
Gal 5:9 — "A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump."

Paul applies the Passover leaven-purging ritual (Exod 12:15-19) to church discipline. The "old leaven" = pre-conversion moral corruption; "unleavened" = the new-covenant community's purity. The proverbial formula "a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump" appears identically in both 1 Cor 5:6 and Gal 5:9 (in Galatians the contaminating agent is false doctrine about circumcision rather than sexual immorality).

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
Φαρισαῖος (Pharisaios)	G5330	5x (45%)	"leaven of the Pharisees" — genitive warning formula
ζυμόω (zymoō)	G2220	4x (36%)	"leaven leaveneth the whole lump" — cognate verb pairing
ὅλος (holos)	G3650	4x (36%)	"the whole was leavened / whole lump" — totality emphasis
προσέχω (prosechō)	G4337	4x (36%)	"take heed / beware" — introduction to leaven warnings
Σαδδουκαῖος (Saddoukaios)	G4523	3x (27%)	"Pharisees and Sadducees" — paired institutional sources
φύραμα (phyrama)	G5445	3x (27%)	"the whole lump" — the dough-mass being permeated
ἄζυμος (azymos)	G106	2x (18%)	"unleavened" — antonym; Passover contrast in 1 Cor 5
ἄλευρον (aleuron)	G224	2x (18%)	"three measures of meal" — parabolic scenario
παλαιός (palaios)	G3820	2x (18%)	"the old leaven" — pre-conversion corruption

Word Family / Cognates¶

G2220 ζυμόω (zymoō) — verb: to cause to ferment, to leaven (4 occurrences; always co-occurs with ζύμη)
G106 ἄζυμος (azymos) — adjective: unleavened (α-privative + ζύμη; 9 occurrences; Feast of Unleavened Bread + 1 Cor 5:7-8 metaphor)

Synonyms¶

No distinct synonym set was returned by search_relationships.py beyond the literal and cognate relationships already documented here.

Antonyms¶

No antonym set was returned by search_relationships.py for ζύμη.

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
שְׂאֹר (seʾor)	H7603	"leaven"	Hebrew noun for the physical yeast-cake/starter dough (5v, all Pentateuchal regulations); G2219 is its LXX equivalent
חָמֵץ (chamets)	H2557	"leaven"	Hebrew noun for the fermented product / leavened bread itself (11v); overlaps in Exodus regulations but denotes the result rather than the agent

Domain Neighbors (Louw-Nida 88.29 — Hypocrisy, Pretense)¶

Strong's	Lemma	Total Verses	Primary KJV Translation	Key Difference
G5272	ὑπόκρισις (hypokrisis)	5	hypocrisy	The abstract quality itself; ζύμη is the image of how hypocrisy spreads
G4392	πρόφασις (prophasis)	4	pretence, cloak	An excuse or cover story; narrower than ζύμη's pervasive-influence sense
G2867	κονιάω (koniaō)	2	whited (sepulchres)	Visual whitewashing; ζύμη is internal/invisible penetration
G4942	συνυποκρίνομαι (synypokrinomai)	1	dissembled (with)	The act of joining in pretense; ζύμη names the principle, not the act

Hebrew Source (via LXX)¶

Hebrew Source	Strong's	Co-occurrences	PMI Score
חָמֵץ (chamets)	H2557	8	23.29
שְׂאֹר (seʾor)	H7603	5	20.25
מַצָּה (matstsah)	H4682	3	10.39

Primary bridge: H2557 חָמֵץ — ferment/leavened bread (co-occ 8, PMI 23.29). The secondary bridge H7603 שְׂאֹר — the yeast-cake itself (co-occ 5, PMI 20.25). Both Hebrew words appear almost exclusively in the Passover/Feast of Unleavened Bread regulations (Exod 12-13, Lev 2:11, Deut 16:3-4). The NT ζύμη metaphorically extends this ritual vocabulary into moral and doctrinal territory.