Mark 8:15

15 And he cautioned them, saying, "Watch out; ¹beware of ²the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of ³Herod."^[a]

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, got into the boat again, and went to the other side.

14 Now they had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat.

15 And he cautioned them, saying, "Watch out; beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod."

16 And they began discussing with one another the fact that they had no bread.

17 And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, "Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened?

Cross References

• 1. Luke 12:1
• 2. 1 Corinthians 5:6-8; Galatians 5:9
• 3. [Mark 3:6; Mark 12:13]

Footnotes

• [a]. Some manuscripts the Herodians