Hyssop

Although Hyssop is found several times throughout the Old and New Testaments, we do not know exactly which plant from the ancient world is referred to by hyssop. However, the type of plant is not as important as its significance. It is used here at the first Passover and in several other places (the purification rites for lepers and the red heifer sacrifice).

HYSSOP

1.      Sources disagree as to what the hyssop is and some claim that the NT hyssop and the OT hyssop are different plants. Some claim to know what the New Testament plant was but not the Old Testament plant. Some believe that different plants were used throughout the OT, even though it is called by the same name.

2.      When the Bible was translated into the KJV, they almost certainly did not know what the hyssop was; therefore they transliterated the word out of the Greek.

         a.      The Greek word is hussopos (ὕσσοπος) [pronounced, HUÇ-sō-positive].

         b.      This Greek word is found in only two New Testament passages, John 19:29 and Heb. 9:19, and it is found in the Septuagint. This would indicate that the translators of the Septuagint in 300 b.c knew what the hyssop was.

         c.      This makes sense because the hyssop would have been used continuously from the Torah forward in some purification rites.

         d.      It is possible that over the centuries, because God's Word had been misplaced and because the Hebrew people were in reversionism many times, that a different plant could have come to be used by the Hebrews and that would account for the NT hyssop and the OT hyssop being different. Therefore, this change, if it occurred, likely would have taken place prior to the translation of the Septuagint.

3.      The opinions:

         a.      Dr. William Smith in Smith's Bible Dictionary defers to Dr. Royle, who claims that the hyssop is not marjoram or some similar aromatic plant, but, after considerable research, claims that it is the caper-plant of Linnæus. He also points out that the Arabic word is quite similar to the Hebrew word translated hyssop.

         b.      The New Bible Dictionary asserts that the hyssop is not the plant presently called Hyssopus officialis L., which is found growing in Southern Europe but is not native to Palestine, but very likely the marjoram in the Old Testament and the Sorghum vulgare in the New Testament (at least at the crucifixion). Other possibilities are listed there.

         c.      Although what the plant was exactly is not too important to us today, it is reasonable to expect that the two references in the New Testament are the same plant and very likely refer to the same plant in the OT (since the Septuagint uses the same word). However, this word is found therein in both the male and female gender, which is why, I suspect, that The New Bible Dictionary said that the OT references did not always seem to be for the same species.

         d.      Zodhiates places the hyssop with a group of plants such as the Egyptian marjoram and thyme. Their hairy stems would serve well as a brush, he points out.¹

4.      Whatever the plant, no previous non-ceremonial, Biblical references exist and it is closely associated with certain other purification rites in the Old Testament:

         a.      It is used in Exodus 12:22 in conjunction with the first Passover. It was dipped into the blood of the lamb (or goat) and the blood was brushed on the top and sides of the doorposts at the front of the houses of the Hebrew believers (it is likely that all of the Hebrew people believed in the Revealed God).

         b.      The obedience of Israel to the Passover requirements helps to explain why God brought so many plagues upon Egypt prior to this final judgment.

                  i.       We have seen that the Hebrews did not receive Moses warmly; especially after his first meeting with Pharaoh (which caused the increased workload of the Jewish slaves).

                  ii.      Therefore, they had to see continual signs and wonders to become (1) believers and to (2) have the sense to follow Moses.

                  iii.      Had God given only or two plagues, then many Hebrews would not have participated in the Passover and their firstborn would have died. It will actually be their sons and daughters who will enter the land; not the Jewish slaves of that time period.

         c.      We do not find hyssop mentioned again until Leviticus 14:4, 6, 49, 51 and 52. In Leviticus, it is used in the purification rites of a leper (and the house where leprosy was). A leper on the outside has the same appearance as we do on the inside. A leper being cured of leprosy is analogous to an unbeliever believing in Jesus Christ and being cleansed and purified. A leper is considered to be unclean and only the healed lepers were a part of this ritual. This ritual made them ceremonially clean. This ceremony, like most of the OT rites, speaks of Christ dying for our sins on the cross, the just for the unjust and His blood (spiritual death) cleansing us from all

         d.      The hyssop is used in the red heifer sacrifice in Num. 19:6,18

         e.      1Kings 4:33 tells us that the hyssop plant grows on the wall (the context is Solomon's wisdom and academic excellence in all areas).

         f.       David alludes to the hyssop in one of his Psalms (51:7) and relates it to purification.

5.      The book of Hebrews adds some information to what the OT tells us about what occurred in ancient Israel. Since God's Word is accurate, we must accept this additional information as true.

         a.      In Exodus 24, Moses has just finished reading the Words of the Law to the people in the desert and vv. 6–7- read And Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and the other half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. Then he took the book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people and they said, "All that the Lord has spoken we will do and we will be obedient!" So Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people and said, "Behold, the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words." There is a lot to unpack in this passage, but we will wait until we get to this chapter to do that.

         b.      Heb. 9:19 tells us For when every commandment had been spoken by Moses to all the people according to the Law, he took the blood of the calves and the goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people. That is, Hebrews tells us that the blood was also sprinkled on the book of the Law and that water, scarlet wool and hyssop was involved.

6.      John 19:29 is the other reference to hyssop in the Bible. Jesus, after He had died spiritually for our sins, was given a small amount of sour wine on a hyssop. How appropriate that the Lamb without spot and blemish would be associated with this plant after our sins had been paid for and that God the Holy Spirit could see down the centuries of time to this when He included the use of the hyssop in the various OT purification rituals.

¹  The Complete Word Study Old Testament; Dr. S. Zodhiates; ©1994 AMG Publishers; p. 178.