Lexical Summary
matstsah: unleavened bread, unleavened, unleavened cakes
Original Word:מַצָּה
Part of Speech:noun feminine
Transliteration:matstsah
Pronunciation:mahts-tsaw'
Phonetic Spelling:(mats-tsaw')
KJV: unleaved (bread, cake), without leaven
NASB:unleavened bread, unleavened, unleavened cakes
Word Origin:[fromH4711 (מָצַץ - suck) in the sense of greedily devouring for sweetness]
1. (properly) sweetness
2. (concretely) sweet (i.e. not soured or bittered with yeast)
3. (specifically) an unfermented cake or loaf
4. (elliptically) the festival of Passover (because no leaven was then used)
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
unleaved bread, cake, without leaven
Frommatsats in the sense of greedily devouring for sweetness; properly, sweetness; concretely, sweet (i.e. Not soured or bittered with yeast); specifically, an unfermented cake or loaf, or (elliptically) the festival of Passover (because no leaven was then used) -- unleaved (bread, cake), without leaven.
see HEBREWmatsats
NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Originfrom
matsatsDefinitionunleavened bread or cake
NASB Translationunleavened (15), Unleavened Bread (10), unleavened bread (25), unleavened cakes (3).
Brown-Driver-Briggs
I. ; — absolute
Leviticus 2:5;
Leviticus 8:26 ( ),
Numbers 6:19 (
id.),
Numbers 6:19; usually plural
Exodus 12:15 44t.;
Exodus 12:18 3t; —
unleavened bread, prepared in form of
Exodus 29:2;
Exodus 29:2 4t. P;
Exodus 29:2;
1 Chronicles 23:29 4t. P;
Exodus 12:39; used at ordinary meals (prepared hastily):
Genesis 19:3 (J),
Exodus 12:39 (J),
1 Samuel 28:24; probably also
Judges 6:19,20,21 (twice in verse); elsewhere at sacrificial meals, e.g. ritual peace-offerings
Leviticus 2:4 (twice in verse);
Leviticus 2:5;
Leviticus 6:9;
Leviticus 7:12 (twice in verse);
Leviticus 10:12; consecration of priesthood
Exodus 29:2 (3 t. in verse);
Exodus 29:23;
Leviticus 8:2,26,26; at peace-offering of Nazirite
Numbers 6:15 (twice in verse);
Numbers 6:17,19 (twice in verse); at Passover
Exodus 12:8;
Numbers 9:11 (all P); especially at feast of
unleavened bread [
cakes] for 7 days after Passover
Exodus 23:15 (E),
Exodus 34:18 (J);
Exodus 12:17 (P), 2Chronicles 30:13,21; 35:17;
Ezra 6:22;
Deuteronomy 16:16; 2Chronicles 8:13;
Leviticus 23:6. During these seven days all Israel ate
Exodus 12:15,18,20 (P),
Exodus 23:15 (E),
Exodus 13:6,7;
Exodus 34:18 (J),
Leviticus 23:6;
Numbers 28:17 (P),
Deuteronomy 16:3,8;
Joshua 5:11;
Ezekiel 45:21. —
2 Kings 23:9 read probably or for (); so Gei Kue Kmp Bu.
[] see below II.
[] see below I.
[] see below . see I. .
(√ of following)
Topical Lexicon
Overview of מַצָּה (matzah)Unleavened bread—prepared quickly without fermenting agents—forms a distinctive food throughout the Old Testament narrative and cultus. Its flat, hastily-made character memorializes Israel’s redemption from Egypt, serves as a continuing sign of covenant purity, and foreshadows messianic fulfillment. Approximately fifty-three occurrences cluster in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, and the historical books, with scattered references in Judges, Isaiah, and Ezekiel.
Redemptive-Historical Origin
1. Passover Night.Exodus 12 introduces matzah in direct connection with the first Passover: “They are to eat the meat that night, roasted over the fire, along with unleavened bread and bitter herbs” (Exodus 12:8). The haste of departure left no time for dough to rise (Exodus 12:39).
2. Feast of Unleavened Bread. Immediately joined to Passover (Exodus 12:14-20; 13:3-10), the seven-day feast institutionalized the memory: “For seven days you must eat unleavened bread” (Exodus 13:7). Leaven was to be removed entirely from every household, reinforcing separation from Egypt’s corruption.
3. Perpetual Ordinance. Later restatements embed the feast into Israel’s festival calendar (Exodus 23:15; 34:18;Leviticus 23:6;Numbers 28:17;Deuteronomy 16:1-8).Joshua 5:11 notes its first observance in Canaan.
Cultic and Sacrificial Use
1. Priestly Consecration. The ordination ritual demanded an unleavened grain offering (Exodus 29:2, 23;Leviticus 8:2, 26, 31). Matzah signified holiness as Aaron and his sons began mediatory service.
2. Regular Grain Offerings. “No grain offering that you present to the LORD shall be made with leaven” (Leviticus 2:11). Unleavened cakes or wafers mixed with oil accompanied fellowship offerings (Leviticus 7:12) and daily service (Leviticus 6:16-17).
3. Nazirite Completion. When a Nazirite’s vow ended, “he is to present…a basket of unleavened cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil” (Numbers 6:15-19).
4. Passover Supplement. Every later Passover required matzah (Numbers 9:11;2 Chronicles 30:13, 21;Ezra 6:19-22). Hezekiah and Josiah both revived the feast with emphasis on unleavened bread (2 Chronicles 35:17).
Civil and Personal Usage
Beyond formal worship, matzah appeared in domestic settings:
• Gideon served “unleavened bread from an ephah of flour” to the Angel of the LORD (Judges 6:19).
• Saul’s visit to the medium of En-dor ended with a meal that included unleavened bread (1 Samuel 28:24-25).
These scenes preserve the association of purity and hospitality even outside the sanctuary.
Symbolism and Typology
1. Separation from Sin. Scripture treats leaven as a permeating agent that pictures corruption (Exodus 12:15;Leviticus 2:11). Removing leaven dramatizes a call to moral cleansing.
2. Sincerity and Truth. Paul draws the typology explicitly: “Cleanse out the old leaven…For Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with the old leaven…but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” (1 Corinthians 5:7-8). The physical matzah prefigures ethical integrity.
3. Christological Fulfillment. The sinless Messiah, crucified during Passover and entombed during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, embodies the bread without leaven. In the Lord’s Supper the church partakes of unleavened bread (Matthew 26:26) as a memorial of His holy body offered for believers.
Prophetical and Eschatological Echoes
Isaiah 30:22 andEzekiel 45:21 preserve future-looking language: “On the fourteenth day of the first month, you are to celebrate the Passover, a feast of seven days; unleavened bread shall be eaten” (Ezekiel 45:21). The prophets envision a renewed worship in which matzah continues to mark covenant fidelity, anticipating the consummation when all defilement is removed.
Ministry Implications Today
• Teaching Tool. Matzah provides an object lesson on rapid obedience and the necessity of personal holiness.
• Communion Practice. Many congregations use unleavened bread to honor both the historic Passover context and the sinlessness of Christ.
• Discipleship Pattern. The removal of leaven challenges believers to ongoing self-examination, repentance, and pursuit of “sincerity and truth.”
Select Key References
Exodus 12:8; 12:15; 12:39; 13:7
Exodus 23:15; 34:18
Leviticus 2:4-5, 11; 6:16-17; 7:12; 8:2; 23:6
Numbers 6:15-19; 9:11; 28:17
Deuteronomy 16:3
Joshua 5:11
Judges 6:19
1 Samuel 28:24
2 Chronicles 30:21-22; 35:17
Ezra 6:22
Ezekiel 45:21
Forms and Transliterations
הַמַּצּ֑וֹת הַמַּצּ֔וֹת הַמַּצּ֖וֹת הַמַּצּ֛וֹת הַמַּצּ֜וֹת הַמַּצּֽוֹת׃ הַמַּצּוֹת֒ הַמַּצּוֹת֙ הַמַּצּוֹת֮ המצות המצות׃ וּבַמַּצּ֑וֹת וּמַצּ֔וֹת וּמַצּ֥וֹת ובמצות ומצות מַצָּ֖ה מַצָּ֤ה מַצָּ֥ה מַצֹּ֑ת מַצֹּת֙ מַצּ֑וֹת מַצּ֔וֹת מַצּ֖וֹת מַצּ֗וֹת מַצּ֛וֹת מַצּ֜וֹת מַצּ֣וֹת מַצּ֤וֹת מַצּ֥וֹת מַצּֽוֹת׃ מַצּוֹת֙ מצה מצות מצות׃ מצת ham·maṣ·ṣō·wṯ hammaṣṣōwṯ hammatztzOt maṣ·ṣāh maṣ·ṣō·wṯ maṣ·ṣōṯ maṣṣāh maṣṣōṯ maṣṣōwṯ matzTzah matzTzot ū·ḇam·maṣ·ṣō·wṯ ū·maṣ·ṣō·wṯ ūḇammaṣṣōwṯ ūmaṣṣōwṯ umatzTzot uvammatzTzot
Links
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