Ancient Greek

Noun

ὕσσωπος • ‎(hússōpos) f ‎(genitive ὑσσώπου); second declension

1. A species of Origanum
2. (biblical) used to translate Biblical Hebrew אֵז֗וֹב ‎(ezov), Origanum syriacum

Usage notes

• Although the taxonomic name Hyssopus is ultimately derived from this term, In Ancient Greek it doesn't refer to the same plant. Likewise, although biblical usage refers to Origanum syriacum, non-biblical usage such as in Dioscorides' De Materia Medica seems to refer to some other species of Origanum.
• Some scholars consider the occurrence in John 19:29 of the Christian New Testament to be a scribal error:

σκεῦος ἔκειτο ὄξους μεστόν· σπόγγον οὖν μεστὸν τοῦ ὄξους ὑσσώπῳ περιθέντες προσήνεγκαν αὐτοῦ τῷ στόματι.‎

skeûos ékeito óxous mestón· spóngon oûn mestòn toû óxous hussṓpōi perithéntes prosḗnenkan autoû tôi stómati.

Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and they filled a spunge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth.

In early manuscripts with no spacing between words and no diacritics, it would be very easy to repeat letters, so ΥΣΣΩΠΕΡΙΘΕΝΤΕΣ might have been copied as ΥΣΣΩΠ[ΩΠ]ΕΡΙΘΕΝΤΕΣ. A spear, ὑσσός ‎(hussós) (dative singular ὑσσῷ ‎(hussôi)), makes much more sense here than a low-growing herb, but the highly symbolic association of ὕσσωπος with the Passover would be too good for later scribes to question.

Inflection

Descendants

• Greek: ύσσωπος ‎(ýssopos)
• Latin: hȳsōpum

• Medieval Latin: hysopus

• Old French: ysope

• French: hysope

• Old English: ȳsōpe

• Middle English: īsōpe

• English: hyssop

• Russian: иссоп ‎(issop)

References

• ὕσσωπος in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• ὕσσωπος in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “G5301”, in Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible, 1979