1 Corinthians 5:6

Not good (ou kalon). Not beautiful, not seemly, in view of this plague spot, this cancer on the church. They needed a surgical operation at once instead of boasting and pride (puffed up). Kauchma is the thing gloried in. A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump (mikra zumh olon to purama zumoi). This proverb occurs verbatim in Galatians 5:9 . Zumh (leaven) is a late word from zew, to boil, as is zumow, to leaven. The contraction is regular (-oei=oi) for the third person singular present indicative. See the parables of Jesus for the pervasive power of leaven ( Matthew 13:33 ). Some of the members may have argued that one such case did not affect the church as a whole, a specious excuse for negligence that Paul here answers. The emphasis is on the "little" (mikra, note position). Lump (purama from puraw, to mix, late word, in the papyri mixing a medical prescription) is a substance mixed with water and kneaded like dough. Compare the pervasive power of germs of disease in the body as they spread through the body.