What does ἄζυμος (ázymos) mean in the Bible?
G106 means unleavened and appears in references to the Feast of Unleavened Bread and in Paul's moral metaphor. 1, the feast called Passover approaches as the passion narrative begins.
Greek · G106
ἄζυμος
Unleavened
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ἄζυμοςG106
Pronunciationázymos
What does ἄζυμος (ázymos) mean in the Bible?
G106 means unleavened and appears in references to the Feast of Unleavened Bread and in Paul's moral metaphor. 1, the feast called Passover approaches as the passion narrative begins.
Reader summary
Full entry for ἄζυμος (G106) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G106?
The BSB source-word alignment has 9 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include Feast of Unleavened [Bread] (2), Unleavened [Bread] (2), [Feast of] Unleavened Bread (1), [the] unleavened [bread] (1), of the Feast of Unleavened [Bread] (1).
Where does ἄζυμος (ázymos) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 26:17. Its strongest book concentrations include 1 Corinthians (2), Acts (2), Luke (2), Mark (2).
What This Word Actually Means
G106 means unleavened and appears in references to the Feast of Unleavened Bread and in Paul's moral metaphor. In Luke. 22. 1, the feast called Passover approaches as the passion narrative begins. In Acts. 20. 6, the festival marks time in the church's travel account. In 1Cor. 5. 8, Paul calls the church to keep the feast with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth rather than malice and wickedness.
G106 opens teaching on remembered deliverance, Jesus' Passover suffering, truthful communal holiness, and moral corruption that must be addressed. It does not make food laws a condition of salvation, justify humiliating discipline, or teach that every small influence is evil.
How the Bible Uses It
G106 describes unleavened bread or the festival associated with it. Paul draws on the Passover practice of removing old leaven to address a church's tolerated wrongdoing and renewed identity in Christ.
- Luke.22.1
Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread, called the Passover, was approaching,
The Feast of Unleavened Bread, called Passover, approaches as opposition to Jesus and preparation for the meal converge.
- Acts.20.6
And after the Feast of Unleavened Bread, we sailed from Philippi, and five days later we rejoined them in Troas, where we stayed seven days.
Luke uses the completed feast as a concrete calendar marker in the missionary journey.
- 1Cor.5.8
Therefore let us keep the feast, not with the old bread, leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and of truth.
Paul applies unleavened festival imagery to a community marked by sincerity and truth rather than malice and wickedness.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItFeast of Unleavened [Bread]2×Matthew 26:17, Acts 12:3
Unleavened [Bread]2×Luke 22:1, Luke 22:7
[Feast of] Unleavened Bread1×Mark 14:1
[the] unleavened [bread]1×1 Corinthians 5:8
of the Feast of Unleavened [Bread]1×Mark 14:12
unleavened1×1 Corinthians 5:7
Unleavened Bread1×Acts 20:6
Show sample aligned rows
Matthew 26:17ἀζύμωνtoFeast of Unleavened [Bread]Adjective - Genitive Neuter PluralMark 14:1ἄζυμαto[Feast of] Unleavened BreadAdjective - Nominative Neuter PluralMark 14:12ἀζύμωνtoof the Feast of Unleavened [Bread]Adjective - Genitive Neuter PluralLuke 22:1ἀζύμωνtoUnleavened [Bread]Adjective - Genitive Neuter PluralLuke 22:7ἀζύμωνtoUnleavened [Bread]Adjective - Genitive Neuter PluralActs 12:3ἀζύμωνtoFeast of Unleavened [Bread]Adjective - Genitive Neuter PluralActs 20:6ἀζύμωνtoUnleavened BreadAdjective - Genitive Neuter Plural1 Corinthians 5:7ἄζυμοιtounleavenedAdjective - Nominative Masculine Plural1 Corinthians 5:8ἀζύμοιςto[the] unleavened [bread]Adjective - Dative Neuter Plural
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowMatthew 26:17
Aligned rows9
Books represented5
Matthew1Mark2Luke2Acts21 Corinthians2
Source forms
ἀζύμων6xazymōnMatthew 26:17, Mark 14:12, Luke 22:1, Luke 22:7
ἄζυμα1xazymaMark 14:1
ἄζυμοι1xazymoi1 Corinthians 5:7
ἀζύμοις1xazymois1 Corinthians 5:8
Parsing patterns
Adjective - Genitive Neuter Plural6xMatthew 26:17, Mark 14:12, Luke 22:1, Luke 22:7
Adjective - Dative Neuter Plural1x1 Corinthians 5:8
Adjective - Nominative Masculine Plural1x1 Corinthians 5:7
Adjective - Nominative Neuter Plural1xMark 14:1
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Do not use leaven imagery to label disliked people as contaminants or to bypass evidence, impartial process, and pastoral care.
- Do not turn Passover food practice into a salvation test for Christians or erase the feast's Jewish identity.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim that G106 makes all leaven or fermentation morally evil.
- Do not claim that 1 Corinthians 5 authorizes secret, arbitrary, or abusive exclusion by leaders.
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Literal unleavened bread; figuratively represents moral purity and freedom from corruption in Christian living.
Strong'sG106
Lexical occurrences9 versesGreek text appearances9 timesWord forms4 forms9 referencesVerse guides0 guides
Study linkActs 20:1-6Source Gloss
unleavened
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
9 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Matthew 26:17Adjective Genitive Plural Neuter
ἀζύμωνazumwn
unleavened, the paschal feast, uncorrupted
Read verseMark 14:1Adjective Nominative Plural Neuter
ἄζυμαazuma
unleavened, the paschal feast, uncorrupted
Read verseMark 14:12Adjective Genitive Plural Neuter
ἀζύμων,azumwn
unleavened, the paschal feast, uncorrupted
Read verseLuke 22:1Adjective Genitive Plural Neuter
ἀζύμων,azumwn
unleavened, the paschal feast, uncorrupted
Read verseLuke 22:7Adjective Genitive Plural Neuter
ἀζύμων,azumwn
unleavened, the paschal feast, uncorrupted
Read verseActs 12:3Adjective Genitive Plural Neuter
ἀζύμων·azumwn
unleavened, the paschal feast, uncorrupted
Read verseActs 20:6Adjective Genitive Plural Neuter
ἀζύμωνazumwn
unleavened, the paschal feast, uncorrupted
Read verse1 Corinthians 5:7Adjective Nominative Plural Masculine
ἄζυμοι.azumoi
unleavened, the paschal feast, uncorrupted
Read verse1 Corinthians 5:8Adjective Dative Plural Neuter
ἀζύμοιςazumoiv
unleavened, the paschal feast, uncorrupted
Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 4 case and number patterns. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Form patterns4Aligned forms9Case patternGenitive (6)Number patternPlural (9)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Nominative · Plural · NeuterMark 14:11×
Nominative · Plural · Masculine1 Cor 5:71×
Genitive · Plural · NeuterMatt 26:17 · Mark 14:12 · Luke 22:1 · Luke 22:7 · Acts 12:3 · Acts 20:66×
Dative · Plural · Neuter1 Cor 5:81×
Selected Scripture Witness
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
New Testament Witnesses
Festival period following Passover.
Showing 1 selected witness from 9 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
ἄζυμος is built from these roots:
Why This Word Matters
Situates the narrative within the Jewish liturgical calendar.Acts 20:1-6
For the Preacher and Teacher
G106 holds historical memory and moral metaphor together. The Feast of Unleavened Bread belongs to Israel's Passover remembrance, and the Gospel references place Jesus' final meal and death within that story of deliverance. Acts can mention the same festival as an ordinary chronological marker, showing that a word need not carry its full symbolism in every occurrence.
Paul deliberately activates the image in Corinth. Because Christ the Passover has been sacrificed, the church is to live as a renewed batch, removing tolerated malice and wickedness and practicing sincerity and truth. The passage addresses a grave, public situation and a boasting community; it is not permission for leaders to purge inconvenient people or investigate every private suspicion.
Faithful application tells the truth about destructive conduct, protects those harmed, follows accountable process, and remembers that communal holiness rests on Christ's saving action rather than institutional purity performance.
Anchor passage
1Cor.5.8
Doctrinal connections
- G106: the feast recalls God's deliverance and supplies the narrative setting for Jesus' Passover suffering.
- G106: Christ's sacrifice grounds the church's renewed identity before Paul commands renewed conduct.
- G106: sincerity and truth describe communal life that refuses both hidden malice and public pretense.
- G106: tolerated harm can spread through a community and requires truthful, proportionate response.
- G106: festival language can function literally as calendar time or metaphorically as ethical exhortation.
- G106: Christian holiness must remain joined to grace, justice, protection of the vulnerable, and accountable judgment.
G106 is a Greek adjective meaning unleavened and can function substantivally for unleavened bread or the days of the festival. The context signals whether the reference is literal, calendrical, or metaphorical.
From Old to New Testament
Exodus commands unleavened bread in Passover remembrance, the Gospels place Jesus' passion in that festival setting, and Paul names Christ as the sacrificed Passover while applying the imagery to church integrity.