Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
Luke 13:21 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 21. 21It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Luke 13:21 centers a woman's hidden leavening work in Jesus' kingdom comparison.
A garden seed and kitchen leaven, not a growth chart
This verse is one part of that explanation in Luke 13:18–13:21. The complete section carries the connected meaning and how it should shape life.
Read It With
- Luke 13:18–13:21
Read Luke 13:21 with 13:18–13:21. In isolation, this contribution—centers a woman's hidden leavening work in Jesus' kingdom comparison—can be detached from its speaker, audience, scene or teaching sequence, and outcome. The complete unit establishes: Jesus compares God's kingdom to a mustard seed becoming sheltering growth and to leaven a woman hides in a large measure until all is leavened.
Follow the Context
- Identify the actors, setting, and initiating speech or action in Luke 13:18–13:21.
- Jesus compares God's kingdom to a mustard seed becoming sheltering growth and to leaven a woman hides in a large measure until all is leavened.
- Hold this material interpretive limit in view: Mustard and leaven can evoke ordinary, disruptive, or ambiguous growth; the images do not supply a timetable or guarantee institutional expansion.
What This Verse Is Not Saying
This verse does not detach its specific contribution—centers a woman's hidden leavening work in Jesus' kingdom comparison—from the complete unit or override the unit's explicit boundary: The parables do not equate size with faithfulness, sanctify empire, erase the woman's labor, or make hidden growth immune from ethical review.
What Remains True
Luke 13:21 centers a woman's hidden leavening work in Jesus' kingdom comparison. Read inside Luke 13:18–13:21, this contribution supports the unit's proportionate truth: Jesus compares God's kingdom to a mustard seed becoming sheltering growth and to leaven a woman hides in a large measure until all is leavened. Its use remains accountable to affected people and the unit's explicit boundary.
Continue in Context
Read the complete section for the connected explanation and how it should shape life. This verse is a doorway into that passage, not a saying that stands alone.
Read Luke 13:18–13:21 — Mustard Seed and Leaven Picture Hidden GrowthSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and coverage.
Exact location: Luke 13:18–13:21, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗Greek textual evidence
The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition
Michael W. Holmes, editor; Society of Biblical Literature and Logos
Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software, 2010
Supports: Greek wording and sentence relations; the edition is not treated as a complete apparatus.
Exact location: Faithlife SBLGNT official repository, data/sblgnt/text/Luke.txt, 13:18–13:21
Open the Luke Greek text file ↗open translation and translator notes
NET Bible First Edition Notes: Luke
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Verse-level translation, syntax, KJV-language clarification, historical notes, Synoptic parallels, and textual alternatives.
Exact location: NET Bible First Edition Luke PDF, exact tn/tc/sn entries attached to Luke 13:18–13:21
Open source ↗