Mark 8:15

15 And he commanded them, and said [saying], See ye, and beware of the sourdough of the Pharisees, and of the sourdough of Herod.

Mark 8:15 Meaning and Commentary

Mark 8:15

And he charged them
When they were in the ship, and had just recollected themselves, that they had took no care to bring any provisions with them:

saying, take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees; and of the
leaven of Herod:
in Matthew, instead of "the leaven of Herod", it is read, "the leaven of the Sadducees": which are either the same, Herod and his courtiers being Sadducees, or favourers of them; or the Sadducees being sticklers for Herod, and his government, which the Pharisees had no good opinion of; or else distinct from one another; and so Christ cautions against the doctrines of the Pharisees, which regarded the traditions of the elders, and of the Sadducees, concerning the resurrection, and of the Herodians, who thought Herod to be the Messiah; and against the unreasonable request and demand of them all to have a sign from heaven, in proof of his own Messiahship; (See Gill on Matthew 16:6).

Mark 8:15 In-Context

13 And he left them, and went up again into a boat, and went over the sea.

14 And they forgot to take bread, and they had not with them but one loaf in the boat.

15 And he commanded them, and said [saying], See ye, and beware of the sourdough of the Pharisees, and of the sourdough of Herod.

16 And they thought, and said one to another, For we have not loaves. [And they thought one to another, saying, For we have not bread.]

17 And when this thing was known, Jesus said to them, What think ye, for ye have not loaves [Jesus saith to them, What think ye, for ye have not bread]? Yet ye know not, neither understand; yet ye have your heart blinded.