Jewish Use of Hyssop in Purification

The Bible contains twelve verses that refer to hyssop, ten in the Old Testament and two in the New Testament. Eight of these verses, all in the Old Testament, describe the use of hyssop in purification rituals, such as those performed to make a person ceremonially clean. According to Jesuit scholar John L. McKenzie, hyssop’s “absorptive qualities rendered it apt as an aspergill in [Hebrew] liturgical practices.”

Identification

The plant most commonly referred to today as hyssop (Hyssopus officinalis) is native to southern Europe and therefore unlikely to be the hyssop mentioned in the Bible (“ezob“ in Hebrew), as the Biblical passages which mention hyssop deal with people and events in the Middle East. Instead, Syrian hyssop (Origanum syriacum), also known as Syrian oregano, is most likely the plant prescribed for the purification rituals. Other possibilities include thyme, sage, mint and caper.

Passover

Exodus 12:22 contains the first Biblical reference to hyssop. In this verse, Moses instructs the Hebrews, still enslaved in Egypt, to use a bunch of hyssop to sprinkle the blood of the Passover lamb on the doorposts and lintels of their houses. Doing so would ensure that God would spare the lives of the firstborn in those houses.

Purification of Lepers

The next verses that mention hyssop, Leviticus 14:4 and 6, are in a passage describing the purification rite for a former leper. (The Greek and Hebrew words translated as leprosy apparently cover various skin ailments, not just Hansen’s disease--the disease classified as leprosy today.) A priest, having determined the person to be free of leprosy, is to take cedar wood, scarlet yarn and hyssop and dip them in the blood of a sacrificial bird. He is then to take these bloodied items and sprinkle blood on the former leper seven times.

Purification of a House

Later verses in the same chapter of Leviticus (verses 49, 51 and 52) speak of hyssop in connection with cleansing a house infested with “leprosy”--probably a mold outbreak. After the house’s infested stones and mortar have been replaced, a priest will examine the house; if he determines that the infestation is gone, he will follow the same procedure described above and sprinkle the house with blood seven times.

Lustral Water

Numbers 19 mentions hyssop twice, in verses 6 and 18. Verse 6 commands that the high priest throw cedar wood, scarlet yarn and hyssop into the fire in which a sacrificed red heifer is burning. Ashes from this sacrifice will be kept for use in lustral water. Verses 11-19 mandate that a person who has come into contact with or been in a tent with a dead body be considered ritually unclean for seven days. The same holds true for a person who touches a human bone or grave and for a tent (as well as any objects in it) in which a dead body has lain. On the third and seventh days, a ritually clean person is to take hyssop, dip it in the lustral water and sprinkle the defiled person or tent or objects with the water.

References

• "Dictionary of the Bible"; John L. McKenzie; 1965
• "Expository Dictionary of Bible Words"; Lawrence O. Richards; 1985
• Old Dominion University: Hyssop
• The Evangelical Quarterly; The Biblical Problem of Hyssop; R. K. Harrison; 1954
• "The Illustrated Bible Dictionary", vol. 3; J. D. Douglas, Ph.D., ed.; 1980