Hyssop and Vinegar: Jesus’s Suffering — John 19

The hyssop, sour wine, and sponge offered by Roman soldiers to ease Jesus’s suffering on the cross were not merely physical objects. This post explores the deep spiritual significance of hyssop as a symbol of purification and the forgiveness of sins throughout Scripture.

Hyssop and Vinegar: Jesus’s Suffering — John 19

The hyssop, sour wine, and sponge were offered by Roman soldiers to relieve Jesus’s pain while He was hanging on the cross. Hyssop is an important plant in the Bible, used in religious and purification rituals. Vinegar, on the other hand, was a common drink in ancient Rome and is mentioned in Scripture as the sour wine offered to Jesus at the crucifixion.

Hyssop, Sour Wine (Vinegar), and the Sponge

1. Hyssop

Hyssop is a small plant of the mint family whose stems and leaves are densely covered with fine hairs; it grows well on stone walls (1 Kgs 4:33). It was regarded as a medicinal plant because of its reddish flowers and the fragrance of its leaves. The hyssop of the Bible appears to be a variety of marjoram (a member of the mint family) standing about one meter tall, still found today on the Sinai Peninsula and in Palestine. Two species are identified: Origanum syriacum (also known as Origanum marul), native to Syria, and Origanum aegyptiacum, native to Egypt.

On the night before the Exodus, when the Israelites observed the very first Passover, they dipped a bunch of hyssop in the blood of a lamb and struck the two doorposts and the lintel with it. Afterward, hyssop was used in the preparation of the ashes of the red heifer for purification rituals (Num 19:6). Hyssop was also used to cleanse the house of a person healed from leprosy (Lev 14:19) and to purify those who had touched a corpse in preparation for burial (Num 19:18–19).

Because of this, hyssop came to be understood as an instrument used in rites of atonement and thus took on the symbolic meaning of the forgiveness of sins. When David repented of his adultery with Bathsheba, he pleaded with tears that God would purge him with hyssop (Ps 51:7). Later, when Jesus was hanging on the cross, people put a sponge soaked in sour wine (a kind of anesthetic to dull pain) on a hyssop stalk and held it up to Him (John 19:29).

2. Sour Wine (vinegar)

Literally meaning “vinegar,” this refers to fermented wine made by acetic fermentation of grapes. It can also refer to wine mixed with vinegar. It is also commonly known as “vinegar” or “sour wine.” In ancient Rome, sour wine diluted with water was called posca, which was a suitable drink for quenching thirst. Roman soldiers would carry it with them as a beverage. It appears that this is what the Roman soldiers at the foot of the cross soaked in a sponge and offered to Jesus. Jesus receiving and drinking this sour wine was a fulfillment of the prophecy in the Psalms (Ps 69:21). Earlier, before the crucifixion took place, Jesus had been offered “wine mixed with gall,” which can be considered a kind of anesthetic drink (Matt 27:34). That is, because it had the effect of dulling the pain of crucifixion to some degree, it appears that Jewish custom involved offering this drink to those condemned to death immediately before their execution (Prov 31:6-7). However, Jesus firmly refused it, thereby bearing the full agony of the cross.

3. Sponge

A general term for sea-dwelling sponge animals (phylum Porifera), also known as pore-bearing animals — the most primitive multicellular animals living in the sea. Their bodies are encased in a rounded or jar-shaped gelatinous shell riddled with countless pores. They live attached to rocks or seaweed in the ocean. With their excellent absorbency, like a sponge, they were widely used for office and medical purposes. Euspongia officinalis, found in the waters off Syria, is considered a premium variety and is said to be harvested most abundantly from early June through late October. In the Bible, the sponge is mentioned only in connection with the crucifixion of Jesus, introduced as the instrument used by Roman soldiers to soak sour wine and offer it to Jesus as he hung on the cross in agony. In the Korean Revised Hangul Bible, it is translated as haeyung (해융).

Source: Dictionary of Biblical Cultural Background

Originally published in Korean at bible2u.com