WHAT IS LEAVEN?
Exodus 13:7 Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days; and there shall no leavened bread be seen with thee, neither shall there be leaven seen with thee in all thy quarters.
Leaven
(Reference: Easton’s Bible Dictionary)
(1.) Heb. seor (Ex. 12:15, 19; 13:7; Lev. 2:11), the remnant
of dough from the preceding baking, which had fermented and become acid.
(2.) Heb. hamets, properly "ferment." In
Num. 6:3, "vinegar of wine" is more correctly "fermented
wine." In Ex. 13:7, the proper rendering would be, "Unfermented
things [Heb. matstsoth] shall be consumed during the seven days; and there
shall not be seen with thee fermented things [hamets], and there shall
not be seen with thee leavened mass [seor] in all thy borders." The
chemical definition of ferment or yeast is "a substance in a state of
putrefaction, the atoms of which are in a continual motion."
The use of leaven was strictly forbidden in all offerings made to the Lord by fire (Lev. 2:11; 7:12; 8:2; Num. 6:15). Its secretly penetrating and diffusive power is referred to in 1 Cor. 5:6. In this respect it is used to illustrate the growth of the kingdom of heaven both in the individual heart and in the world (Matt. 13:33). It is a figure also of corruptness and of perverseness of heart and life (Matt. 16:6, 11; Mark 8:15; 1 Cor. 5:7, 8).
Leaven (Reference: Strong’s #’s)
2557 chamets, ferment, yeasted
7603 seor, yeast-cake for fermentation
2219 sume, ferment
Leavened, Leaveneth (Reference: Strong’s #’s)
2557, 7603, 2219 and
2220 zumoo, to cause to ferment
Leaven (Reference: Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary)
Etymology: Middle English levain, from Middle French,
from (assumed) Vulgar Latin levamen, from Latin levare to
raise
1 a: a substance (as yeast) used to produce fermentation in dough or
a liquid; especially: SOURDOUGH
b: a material (as baking powder) used to produce a gas that lightens
dough or batter.
Leaven (Reference: Dictionary.com)
1. An agent, such as yeast, that causes batter or dough to rise, especially by fermentation.
2. An element, influence, or agent that works subtly to lighten, enliven, or modify a whole.
tr.v. leav·ened, leav·en·ing, leav·ens
1. To add a rising agent to.
2. To
cause to rise, especially by fermentation.
3. To pervade with a lightening, enlivening, or modifying influence.
Baking Powder, Baking Soda, and Yeast are not active until a liquid (i.e. water, milk or an acid) is added to them. Therefore, having these items in your house is not forbidden when they are inactive.