An adjective describing something made without yeast, usually bread (Heb. matzah). Although unleavened bread could be used for ordinary meals (1Sam 28:24-25), it appears most frequently in religious contexts. (Lev 2:4, Lev 2:11) stipulate that cereal offerings made at the Temple must be unleavened. Both leaven and honey were forbidden due to their association with fermentation and thus corruption (1Cor 5:8). The unleavened bread not consumed on the sacrificial altar was eaten by the priests (Lev 10:12-13). Unleavened bread was also eaten during the Festival of Unleavened Bread, a seven-day festival that originally followed the one-day Passover celebration (Lev 23:5-8; Num 28:16-25; Exod 23:15; Exod 34:18; Deut 16:1-8; Ezek 45:21-25; Mark 14:1; Matt 26:17; Luke 22:1; Acts 12:3; Acts 20:6). Leavened bread was forbidden during this festival to mark the beginning of the grain harvest, which concluded at the Festival of Weeks (Lev 23:15-21; Num 28:26-31; Deut 16:9-12). The eating of unleavened bread at this festival was also linked to the exodus from Egypt, when, according to the narrative tradition, the Israelites could not wait for the dough to rise because of their haste to escape from Egyptian bondage (Exod 12:14-20; Exod 34-39:14).
