Psalms 51:7, “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.”

I wasted a lot of time searching out the internet, reading scientific journals on articles about hyssop, reading commentaries take on hyssop, articles on essentials oils and the use of hyssop throughout different ancient cultures, all with the hope of understanding what David really meant when he asked God to purge him with hyssop.  Half the words I read on hyssop, I could not even pronounce let alone understand what they meant. I found there were many different varieties of hyssop and no one was certain just which particular hyssop was being referenced in the Bible.

The bottom line is that I am not a chemist, botanist nor even a scientist.  I am just a student of ancient Semitic languages. Frankly, I cannot tell you which one of the many varieties of hyssop that we have today is the one mentioned in the Bible any more than anyone else who considers themselves experts in the field can.  But this I do know, David and the Levitical priest, like myself, were not botanist or 21^st Century scientist with a lot of high flutentant  words that no one could pronounce.  They had just one word for hyssop and that was ‘ezob.  Quite frankly, from my study of the origins of the word ‘ezob, I can only conclude that anything that smacks of hyssop today is an ‘ezob. That included everything from oregano to the essential oils.

‘Ezob (hyssop) has an interesting Semitic root.  It is based upon an old Canaanite root which means from times of old or ancient times. It is associated with recalling ancient times, or memories. Indeed the essential oil for hyssop is used for the restoration of memory loss.  This idea of recalling ancient times carried the idea of  shortening the gap between the ancient times and the present so one could learn from the past.  In its ancient Semitic form the word ‘ezob (hyssop) could be rendered in English as history. It is the study of history where we try to shorten the gap of hundreds and thousands of years to teach us lessons from the past.  Eventually ‘ezob came to represent hyssop as an essential oil or herb which was used as a cleansing agent such as history is to be used to show us the results of the mistakes of the past and to teach us not to repeat those mistakes. In a sense the idea of ‘ezob was that if future generations could learn from the mistakes of the past it would cleanse the sins of those who commit them in the past.  Hence ‘ezob took on the idea of a cleansing agent.  By David’s time ‘ezob was applied to hyssop because this essential oil was a cleansing agent.  All the furniture of the temple was to be cleansed with hyssop.  In a sense the operation of cleansing is to remove all memory of what was once there and allow you to start fresh or new.  Learning from your past mistakes or others learning from your mistakes and not repeating them eases one’s guilt over his past errors.  How often it has been said, “If only others could learn from my mistakes.”  That is the root meaning of ‘ezob, the relieving of your feelings of guilt over finding some good coming out of it by others or yourself learning from those mistakes.

Thus, ‘ezob fits for any of the many varieties of hyssop.  The ancient sages spelled the Hebrew word ‘ezob as Aleph (God), Zayin (protecting what is precious) and Beth (home and/or heart).  In other words the sages looked at the word esoterically as a source of God protecting your home and heart.  Indeed scientists tell us that hyssop is a strong agent for protecting your immune system and boosting your natural defense systems.  It is also a protection of your heart, soul and/or mind as the scent of hyssop has been known to bring emotional relief.

Is it any wonder that David cried out to God to purge him with hyssop.  The word purge in Hebrew is tehar which means purification and cleansing. In other words David is asking God to cleanse or purify him with hyssop.   Actually, the proposition with is simply a Beth which is more often rendered as in or on rather than with.  He wanted to be cleansed in hyssop, to be totally immersed in hyssop. That would be a pretty expensive bath.  However, the poet that David was he would most likely not be speaking of a literal bath in hyssop, but asking God to perform the healing work of hyssop as if he were totally immersed in hyssop.  Note he uses the word chata’ for sin which is missing the mark. But he puts it in a piel form.  He is asking God to cleanse him form the grossest sin. But not only that, by bathing himself in hyssop, he is asking God to bring the emotional healing that hyssop brings, to ease his trouble soul and to sharpen his memory of the sin as hyssop was used for in those days to heighten ones memory. He wanted to always remember his history of sin so he would not repeat the mistakes of his past.

I remember as a pastor counseling a woman who was in an abusive marriage.  I asked her why she could not leave the marriage and she said the problem was that she could only  remember the few good things. We tend to forget the bad things in life.  That is good, then we do not suffer so much, but in another respect, like David, we need to inhale the scent of hyssop every so often to heighten the memory of our past mistakes and sins so that we do not repeat them. When David asked to be purified with hyssop he was not just asking God to forgive his sin, but to keep it in his memory so that he would never, ever again do such an offense to the God he dearly loved.

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