Cedar and Hyssop

Cedar and hyssop are often mentioned together in the Bible. King Solomon is said to have described plant life from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of walls (1 Kings 4:33). Both cedar and hyssop were used in cleansing ceremonies both for people healed of an infectious skin disease and for a house that has been cured of mildew (Leviticus 14).

Hyssop is an aromatic herb native to the Mediterranean regions and western Asia. Whereas cedar is deep-rooted and requires a good water source, hyssop will grow with minimal water and often out of a wall or between crevices of rocks. Hyssop is a food plant for cabbage moth and cabbage white butterfly and is often planted alongside cabbage, to lure away the pests.

If cedar may be associated with might, power, uprightness, and righteousness, hyssop is symbolic of sacrifice, humility, and servanthood. It is the plant that was used to dip the lamb's blood and paint the door frames during the first Passover in Egypt (Exodus 12:22). It is the plant that is mentioned in David's prayer of repentance, after the prophet Nathan came to him to rebuke him on the matter of Bathsheba (Psalm 51:7). It is also the stalk of a hyssop on which wine vinegar was dipped and offered to Jesus on the cross (John 19:29). When Jesus received it, he then said, "It is finished."