Hyssop in Biblical History

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Schaff's Bible Dictionary

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What is Hyssop?
HYS'SOP
, Ex 12:22. A plant often used in the ceremonies of purification. Lev 14:4, Lev 14:6, Lev 14:51; Ps 51:7. One of its characteristics is referred to in 1 Kgs 4:33. It is associated with our Saviour's last hours, John 19:29. More than twenty different plants have been urged as the species intended, Tristram and other recent authorities favor the caper-bush. But Dr. Post of Beirut, Syria, in the Sunday-School World for March, 1879, argues very conclusively, on philological and other grounds, in favor of a species of marjoram. For such reasons, he says, "hyssop should be a labiate plant with aromatic odor and capable of furnishing a reed-like stem suitable for binding the sponge upon and presenting it to the mouth of Jesus, John 19:29. Of the labiatc plants of Palestine, none so well fulfils these indications as the Origanum maru, the Sdfitar of the Arabs. Its thyme-like odor and pungent taste would have aided with the vinegar to assuage thirst. Most labiates have similar properties. Scarlet wool and hyssop were early associated in the ceremonial act of purification. It is remarkable that thymol, a product of a plant closely allied to the hyssop and origanum, is now extensively used as an antiseptic." He further adds upon the passage in John (above):" There is nothing in the narrative that would forbid the idea of the sponge saturated with vinegar having been bound with a bunch of hyssops on an ordinary reed (comp. Mark 15:36), in which case there would be no need of supposing the hyssop to have a reedlike stem." Bochart also decides in favor of the marjoram, or some plant like it. Ancient tradition likewise points to the same conclusion. The Hebrew word was probably applied to aromatic plants of the hyssop family, and not alone to one particular herb; this family is destitute of deleterious secretions, and the plants are fragrant as well as aromatic. As this family of plants abounds in Syria and the Sinaitic peninsula, Origanum maru, or Hyssop. there seems to be no valid objection to Dr. Post's view. __________________________________________________________________ I.

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Schaff, Philip, Dr. "Biblical Definition for 'hyssop' in Schaffs Bible Dictionary".
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