{{Short description|Plant mentioned in the Bible}} thumb|250px|Ezov shrub in Jerusalem '''Ezov''' ({{langx|he|אֵזוֹב|ʾēzōḇ}}, transliterated in some English-language Bibles as ''ezob'') is the Classical Hebrew name of the plant ''Origanum syriacum'' mentioned in the Hebrew Bible in the context of religious rituals.
Maimonides, Saadia Gaon and earlier Jewish commentators identified ''ezov'' with the herb ''Origanum syriacum'',<ref>Based on the Judeo-Arabic translation of the word in the works of Rabbi Saadia Gaon (in his ''Tafsir'', a translation of the Pentateuch, Exo. 12:22), David ben Abraham al-Fasi (in his Hebrew-Arabic Dictionary of the Bible, known as ''`Kitāb Jāmiʿ al-Alfāẓ`'', vol. 1, s.v. אזוב), Rabbi Jonah ibn Janah (''Sefer HaShorashim'' - Book of the Roots, s.v. אזב - ''aleph'', ''zayn'', ''bet''), Maimonides (in his ''Mishnah'' Commentary, ''Nega'im'' 14:6) and Nathan ben Abraham I in Mishnah ''Uktzin'' 2:2. The problems with identification arise from Jewish oral tradition where it expressly prohibits Greek hyssop, and where the biblical plant is said to have been identical to the Arabic word, ''zaatar'' (Origanum syriacum), and which word is not to be associated with other ''ezobs'' that often bear an additional epithet, such as ''zaatar farsi'' = Persian-hyssop (Thymbra capitata) and ''zaatar rumi'' = Roman-hyssop (Satureja thymbra). See: ''The Mishnah'' (ed. Herbert Danby), Oxford University Press: Oxford 1977, s.v. ''Negai'im'' 14:6 (p. 696); ''Parah'' 11:7 (p. 711).</ref> which has aromatic and cleansing properties, grows wild in Israel, and can easily be bunched together to be used for sprinkling.<ref name="Jewish Encyclopedia" /> Origanum syriacum is the primary ingredient in the spice mixture za'atar.
== Etymology == The Septuagint translates Hebrew אֵזוֹב ''ezov'' as {{lang|grc|ὕσσωπος}} hyssop, and English translations of the Bible often follow this rendering. ''Ezov'' and the Greek word ὕσσωπος ''hyssops'' share a common etymological origin<ref>''Oxford English Dictionary'', 2nd Edition, 1989, ''s.v.'' hyssop</ref> in an ancient culture word that originated in Asia Minor.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Noonan |first=Benjamin J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=acfhDwAAQBAJ&pg=PP10 |title=Non-Semitic Loanwords in the Hebrew Bible: A Lexicon of Language Contact |date=2019-10-29 |publisher=Penn State Press |isbn=978-1-64602-039-3 |language=en}}</ref> While the catalyst for the spread of this culture word is unknown, Asia Minor may have been the place of ''Origanum''’s first ritual usage, from which it spread to other regions. Dioscorides' description of ὕσσωπος indicates that he identified this plant with ''Origanum'' (''De materia medica'' 3.25); the Vienna Dioscurides depicts ὕσσωπος as ''Origanum syriacum.''<ref>{{Cite web |last=Janick |first=Jules |date=15 July 2020 |title=Herbal Images: Synteny of Images in Three Illustrated Dioscoridean Herbals |url=https://tulip.hort.purdue.edu/herbalimages/results.php?currentbinomial=&binomial=&family=&common=&greek=hyssopos&set= |access-date=23 February 2025}}</ref>thumb|250px|''Origanum syriacum''|left
== Old Testament == Ezov is described as a small plant found on or near walls,<ref>1 Kings 4:33</ref> with an aromatic odor.<ref name="Numbers 19:6">Numbers 19:6</ref><ref name="Jewish Encyclopedia">''Jewish Encyclopedia''</ref>
The Israelites used ''ezov'' in the Passover ritual when they were enslaved in Egypt, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament, to sprinkle lamb's blood on the door posts and lintels of the slaves' quarters in which they lived, so that God<ref>Exodus 12:23</ref> would pass over them as he slew the first-born of the Egyptians.<ref>Exodus 12:22</ref> The Israelites used ''ezov'' more regularly for other rituals when they had settled in Israel. It was used in the ritual for cleansing from leprosy<ref>Leviticus 14:4-7, 14:49-51</ref> and corpse uncleanness,<ref>Numbers 19:17-19</ref> as well as for the burning of the red heifer.<ref name="Numbers 19:6" /> In Psalms, the sprinkling of ezov is used metaphorically to refer to purification of the heart.<ref>Psalm 50 (septuagint numbering), Psalm 51 (masoretic numbering)</ref>
== New Testament == The book of John in the New Testament (written in Koine Greek) mentions that ''hyssop'' was used, along with vinegar, to alleviate the thirst of Jesus, during his Passion. Matthew and Mark mention the occasion but refer to the plant using the general term κάλαμος (''kálamos''), which is translated as "reed" or "stick."
The Roman Catholic Church and some Christian sects interpret {{Transliteration|hbo|ezov}} as hyssop and have adopted the practice of using it to sprinkle water to ritually cleanse objects, including churches and people, in a ritual termed ''aspersion'' during the Asperges.
==References== {{reflist}}
Category:Herbs Category:Plants in the Bible