113. Hyssop - Zufa
Hyssop - Zufa
"Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me (with zufa, as the original gives) and I shall be whiter than snow" (Psalms 51:7).
Hyssop is used as a spice and also for its medicinal oil. - But to the prophets it represented meekness and modesty. They contrasted the hyssop with the cedar of Lebanon, the symbol of exaltation and pride (2 Kings 14:9).
Hyssop is a very effectual purge - internal cleansing; zufa is a potent bleach - external cleansing. "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me with zufa and I shall be whiter than snow."