dough

The Greek that is translated as “dough” or similar in English is translated in Matumbi as “kneaded flour.” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific notes in Paratext)

leaven

The Greek and Hebrew that is translated as “leaven” (or “yeast”) in English is translated in Tzotzil as “the thing that swells the stomach of bread” and in Mairasi “bread cooking ingredient” (source: Enggavoter 2004)

In the occurrences in Mark 8:15 it is translated in Wantoat as “salt.” (Source: Ronald D. Olson in Notes on Translation January, 1968, p. 15ff.)

See also leaven (1Cor 5:6).

complete verse (Galatians 5:9)

Following are a number of back-translations of Galatians 5:9:

  • Uma: “There is a proverb [lit., gold words] that says like this: "A little yeast make a lot of flour rise." And their teaching is like yeast.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “The teaching which is not true is spreading as the proverb says, ‘Even a pinch of leaven (lit. cause-to-grow) can make the whole dough rise/grow.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “As for that false teaching that was taught to you, it’s like yeast when we make bread because even if you put just a little bit of it in a lot of flour, all of the bread will become yeasted just the same.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Be-careful, because it’s true what people say, ‘Even a little yeast/baking-powder, it-causes-to-swell the entire mixture-it-is-mixed-in.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “If you continue to go along with that teaching which is not the truth, your belief/obedience will perish. For is it not so that, even if only a little raising-agent is mixed in, it can-cause-to-rise the whole of what it was mixed into, as our proverb says.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “You can see that a little bit of leaven leavens all the dough.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Galatians 5:9

Paul here quotes a proverbial saying which he uses elsewhere (see 1 Cor 5.6). The amount of yeast is very small in proportion to the total lump of dough, but it is used to make … rise (that is, to ferment or leaven) the whole lump. In the New Testament yeast is used as a symbol of the pervasive influence either of evil or of good (as in Matt 13.33). Paul’s emphasis is on the former. The meaning of the proverb is fairly obvious: evil, no matter how small it seems, will always in the end result in great harm. Paul may be applying the proverb either to the teachers, who obviously were only a handful, or to their teaching, especially to their possible insistence on circumcision as only a small thing.

The action of yeast on a batch of dough is expressed quite differently in various languages, for example, “only a little yeast can make a large batch of dough grow big,” “… can soon sour a great deal of dough,” or “… is needed for a big loaf of bread.”

The expression as they say is not in the Greek text but is legitimately added here to mark the previous statement as a proverb or popular saying. It may be rendered in some languages as “there is a saying that,” “one often hears it said,” or even “people often say.”

Quoted with permission from Arichea, Daniel C. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Galatians. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1976. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Galatians 5:9

5:9

A little leaven works through the whole batch of dough: This is a proverb. People used this proverb to refer to a small amount of something having a large effect. Paul used this proverb to warn the Galatians about the false teaching.

The word leaven refers to a product like yeast that makes bread rise. It only takes a small amount of yeast to make a large amount of bread dough rise. In the Bible, leaven is almost always a symbol of evil. So here it means that just as leaven affects bread, a small amount of false teaching will affect the churches throughout Galatia and do great harm to them.

Some ways to translate this proverb are:

• Make it explicit that it is a proverb. For example:

“It takes only a little yeast to make the whole batch of dough rise,” as they say. (Good News Translation)

• Make it explicit that it is a warning. For example:

Be careful! “Just a little yeast makes the whole batch of dough rise.” (New Century Version)

• Make it explicit that the proverb refers to the false teaching. For example:

This false teaching is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough! (New Living Translation (2004))

• Make it explicit that it is a proverb, a warning, and refers to false teaching. For example:

The teaching that is not true is spreading. As the proverb warns, “Even a little bit of leaven affects the whole lump of dough.”
-or-
Watch out. Remember the proverb that says: “A little yeast makes a lot of flour rise.” And this false teaching is like yeast.

leaven: The Greek noun that the Berean Standard Bible translates as leaven refers to a product that makes bread dough rise. The most common type of leaven is yeast. Most of the more modern English versions translate this word as “yeast.”

This word also occurs in Matthew 13:33, Mark 8:15, and Luke 13:21. If you have translated any of these passages, you should use the same word here.

If you have not yet translated the word “leaven” or “yeast”, here are some ways to translate it:

• Use an expression that describes the yeast. For example:

what spreads to make bread rise
-or-
bread-expanding substance

• Use a term from the national language and indicate its meaning. For example:

yisti that spreads to make bread swell

• Borrow a word and explain it in a footnote. Here is an example of a possible footnote:

Yeast is something that spreads in flour dough and causes it to rise so that after the dough is baked it is soft to eat.

works through the whole batch of dough: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as works through is more literally “leavens.” The word “leavens” is the verb form of the noun “leaven.” This verb refers to the process whereby leaven/yeast makes bread rise.

The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as batch of dough refers to an amount of clay or dough.

Some other ways to translate this phrase are:

to make the whole batch of dough rise (Good News Translation)
-or-
spreads through the whole batch of dough (God’s Word)
-or-
makes a lot of flour rise/swell

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