King James Bible Dictionary

(Heb. ezob; LXX. hyssopos), first mentioned in Exodus 12:22 in connection with the institution of the Passover. We find it afterwards mentioned in Leviticus 14:4, 6, 52; Numbers 19:6, 18; Hebrews 9:19. It is spoken of as a plant "springing out of the wall" (1 Kings 4:33). Many conjectures have been formed as to what this plant really was. Some contend that it was a species of marjoram (origanum), six species of which are found in Palestine. Others with more probability think that it was the caper plant, the Capparis spinosa of Linnaeus. This plant grew in Egypt, in the desert of Sinai, and in Palestine. It was capable of producing a stem three or four feet in length (Matthew 27:48; Mark 15:36. Comp. John 19:29).

An indigenous plant to Western Asia and Northern Africa
1 Kings 4:33

The Israelites used:

In sprinkling the blood of the paschal lamb upon the lintels of their doors
Exodus 12:22

In sprinkling blood in purifications
Leviticus 14:4; Leviticus 14:6; Leviticus 14:51-52; Hebrews 9:19

Used in the sacrifices of separation
Numbers 19:6

Used in giving Jesus vinegar on the cross
John 19:29

Figurative of spiritual cleansing
Psalms 51:7

(Heb. ezob.) The ezob was used for sprinkling in some of the sacrifices and purifications of the Jews. In consequence of its detergent qualities, or from its being associated with the purificatory Services, the psalmist makes use of the expression, "Purge me with ezob ." (Psalms 51:7) It is described in (1 Kings 4:33) as growing on or near walls. (Besides being thus fit for sprinkling, having cleansing properties and growing on walls, the true hyssop should be a plant common to Egypt, Sinai and Palestine, and capable of producing a stick three or four feet long since on a stalk of hyssop the sponge of vinegar was held up to Christ on the cross. (John 19:29) it is impossible to precisely identify the plant because the name was given not to a particular plant but to a family of plants associated together by Hyssop, qualities easily noticed rather than by close botanical affinities. Different species of the family may have been used at different times. The hyssop of the Bible is probably one (or all) of three plants:

1. The common hyssop is "a shrub with low, bushy stalks 1 1/2 feet high, small pear shaped, close-setting opposite leaves all the stalks and branches terminated by erect whorled spikes of flowers of different colors in the varieties. It is a hardy plant, with an aromatic smell and a warm, pungent taste; a native of the south of Europe and the East."

   ED.)

2. Bochart decides in favor of marjoram, or some plant like it, and to this conclusion, it must be admitted, all ancient tradition points. (This is the Origanum maru , the z'atar of the Arabs. The French consul at Sidon exhibited to Dr. Thomson ("The Land and the Book," i. 161) a specimen of this "having the fragrance of thyme, with a hot, pungent taste, and long slender stems." Dr. Post of Beirut, in the American edition of Smith's large Dictionary, favors this view.

   ED.)

3. But Dr.Royle, after a careful investigation of the subject, arrives at the conclusion that the hyssop is no other than the caperplant, or Capparis spinosa of Linn'us. The Arabic name of this plant, asuf , by which it is sometimes though not commonly, described, bears considerable resemblance to the Hebrew. "It is a bright-green creeper, which climbs from the fissures of the rocks, is supposed to possess cleansing properties, and is capable of yielding a stick to which a sponge might be attached."

   Stanky, "Sinai and Palestine," 23.

   It produces a fruit the size of a walnut, called the mountain pepper.