- "Adultery" is a motif used often to describe the faithlessness of the people and their attraction to other gods. At various points, when the people stray from the God of Israel, God's reaction is like a spurned spouse. (See Exodus 32.)
- Yeast was seen as a corrupting agent. While it was handy to make bread rise, it is still bacteria (although they didn't know it) and a yeast starter that went bad was a green, moldy mess. During the Passover, Jews eat nothing with yeast. This is to remember the unleavened bread of the Exodus, but also is a sign of a pure people, uncorrupted by foreign elements.
- Elijah and Jeremiah were both important prophets. Elijah was expected to return to earth, since in tradition he didn't die, but left the earth in a fiery chariot.
- The ‘commission to Peter' in verse 18 is the primary foundation for the organization of the Catholic church. This verse, in Latin, (Tu es Petrus, et super hanc petram ædificabo Ecclesiam meam, et portæ inferi non prævalebunt adversus eam) is inscribed in the dome of St. Peter's basilica in the Vatican.
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