Psalms 51:7
Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Study Note
Study Note
The prayer 'purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow' draws the purification ritual of Numbers 19 — where hyssop branches were used to sprinkle water mixed with the ashes of a red heifer for cleansing from corpse-defilement — into the domain of moral and spiritual cleansing. Hyssop was also used to apply the Passover blood in Exodus 12:22, and in John 19:29 a hyssop stalk is used to offer Jesus vinegar at the cross, suggesting that the evangelist links the crucifixion to these purification rituals. The intensifier 'whiter than snow' reaches beyond any priestly ritual to an absolute purification that only divine action can achieve. The verse became central in Christian baptismal and penitential theology, and the entire psalm is appointed in Lenten liturgies across traditions.
Other Translations
Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Thou cleansest me with hyssop and I am clean, Washest me, and than snow I am whiter.
Make me free from sin with hyssop: let me be washed whiter than snow.
Cross References
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That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but …
That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,