Hy|iocril«s are compared to ' wliited sepulchres, outwardly beautiful, but full of unclcanncss' (.Mt 23-'') ; to ' the tombs which appear not,' and which defile all who come in contact with them, without their being aware of them (Lk 11") ; and to leaven (Lk 12'). And hypocri.sy is condemned, not merely OS a gross form ot deceit, but lus folly, for it never succeeds. Sooner or later the inevitable ex|)Osurc comes, and the hypocrite is unmasked (Lk I'J'- ').
A. Pl.UMMEII.
HYRCANU8, AV HIRCANUS CTpnaiA.).— The son of Tobias, 'a man in viiy high place,' who had money <lcpositeil at .lerus., 111 the tomple treasury, at the time of the vi.sit of lleliodorus (2 Mac 3''i. Jos. spckks of 'the sons of Tobias' as supporter^ of Stenclaus {Ant. XII. v. 1) ; also of U. the son oi
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UYSSOP
HYSSOP
a farmer of the reveuue named Joseph, who was the son of Tobias and nephew of Onias II. But it is doubtful whether we should, with liawlinson {Speaker's Cojnin.), identify this II. with the person mentioned in 2 Mac.
Tlie name seems to be a local appellative. Its use anion^ the Jews is perhaps to be explained from tlie lact that Artaxer.xes Ochus transported a number of Jews to llyrcania (cf. Schiirer, JIJF I. i. 273f.). H. A. White.
HYSSOP.— The problem in regard to this plant has been much complicated by attempting its solution liist in OT. The difliculties will greatly lessen if we approach the question lirst from the NT side. Tlie word occurs twice in NT. Once in a recital of the ordinances of the first covenant, the author of the Ep. to the Heb. summarizes the sprinklings of blood and water by means of a wisp of scarlet wool and hyssop (lie 9'''), as these liad been laid down in various places in the Pentateucli. Here it is clear that he adopts the rendering of the LXX iWwTToj. The other passage (Jn 19-"-') saj'S that ' they filled a sponge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to liis moutli.' Here the evangelist alludes to a plant, known to his readers by the name by which he called it. He is not quoting a passage from the OT, but recording a new fact. 'What was this plant? Here again the problem has been complicated by assuming tli:it KaXa/ios, in the parallel passages {Mt 27''*, Mk IS*'), is the same as ilffo-onro!. In these passages it is said that, after fillinir the sponge with vinegar, ' they put it on a reed (xaXd/iijj), and gave him to drink.' Now, the meaning of Kd.\aiJ.os is indubitably a reed or cane, not a rod or stick, as some would have it. The word lias in it no suggestion of hyssop, and would not have been so understood by tlie readers of Mt and Mk. It is therefore an un- warrantable assumption that reed and htjssop are the same (although it is fair to add that the present WTiter has against him, on this point, almost all modern commentators, who hold that Mt and Mk's Trepi^cis KoKdfKf and Jn's utrtrwiry irepidiyres are identical in meaning). Admitting their diver- sity, the passages are easily harmonized by noting that St. John mentions both the articles used to mitigate the thirst of our Saviour, but omits tell- ing how they ' put it to his mouth.' It is clear that this could not have been done by the hand alone. Mt and Mk omit the hyssop, but mention the reed by which the sponge, vinegar, and hyssop were ' put to his mouth.'
The word licrauiros appears to have been used by the Greeks, with some latitude, for plants of the Labiate Family, much as we use the words mar- joram, thyme, mint, sage, and hyssop itself. Several difl'erent genera were doubtless included. The genus Hyssopus is of modem creation, and none of the species grow wild in Sinai, Pal. , or Syria. There are, however, several species of marjoram which grow wUd, and are known under the Arab, name sa'tar, which according to high rabbinical authority was the hyssop. We are inclined to think that it was from one of these, probably Origanum Maru, L., that the hyssop of Jn was taken. This plant, the leaves and heads of which have a pungent, aromatic flavour, has been used from remote antiquity as a condiment. Its powder, sprinkled over bread, is eaten largely in Bible lands at the present day. Like the peppermint, it tastes at first hot, but this is followed by a cooling, re- freshing feeling, and a flow of saliva which quenches thirst. The addition of this substance to the vinegar or sour wine on the sponge would be eminently suited to the purpose of moistening and cooling the mouth of the parched sutterer on the Cross.
We are now in a position to ask whether the
plants known to the Arabs as sa'tar suit the re- quirements of OT hyssop. Hyssop is mentioned alone in connexion with the sprinkJing of the
{la-ssover (Kx 12-), 'and ye shall take a bunch of lyssop and dip it into the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel,' etc.). This species of Origanum is eminently adapted for this purpose. It iias straight, slender, leafy stalks, with small heads. Several of these stalks grow from one root, so that the hand could enclose and break oil', at one efl'ort, a suitable bunch or wisp for sprinkling. Iq certain of the sprinklings, as in lejirosy (Lv 14), there was added to tlie bunch some ceaar woof/ (prob. a twig of Junipcrus I'liuenicea, L., or one of its congeners), scarlet, and a living bird. ' Purge me with hy.ssop ' (Ps 51") no doubt refers to such cere- monial [lurilication, as the succeeding clause, 'wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow,' refers to the ceremonial washing which followed the cleansing of the leper. It is a gratuitous assumption here to attribute to the hyssop medicinal virtues of a deter- gent sort. It was not used internally, but for sprinkling. A similar bunch, with the exception of the bird, was thrown into the fire which con- sumed the red heifer (Nu 19*).