Disinfection: Old and New Antibiotics

Hyssop (Oil of Oregano)
Though patentable antibiotic drugs, such as penicillin, were only discovered and prescribed by physicians in recent decades, Jewish priests utilized natural antibiotics, which may be as powerful as modern drugs. Here is the Biblical advice for cleansing when handling the dead: “And a clean person shall take hyssop and dip it in the water, and sprinkle it on the tent and on all the furnishings and on the persons who were there.” [Numbers 19:18] The Psalm-ist says: “Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.” [Psalms 51:7]
Dr. Cass Igram, in his book The Cure Is In The Cupboard [Knowledge House, Buffalo Grove, Illinois, 1997], notes that hyssop in the Bible is really what we know today as oregano, a commonly used spice. Unfortunately, most of the oregano purchased in food stores today is actually marjoram, which is also known as “sweet oregano.” Only wild oregano (origanum vulgare) contains essential oils that are rich in carvacrol and thymol, types of phenol antiseptics. While many spices, such as basil, mustard, bay leaf and coriander, have ability to kill off germs, it is oregano that exhibits superior anti-fungal activity. [International Journal Food Microbiology, 6: 263, 1988] Oregano was used traditionally by herbalists dating as far back as 3000 B.C. with the Assyrians. Oil of oregano kills off fungi and bacteria and should be included among the list of natural antibiotics. The hyssop (Herbrew: ezob) of the Old Testament (origanum maru var. aegyptiacum) should be distinguished from the hyssop of the New Testament (sorghum vulgare var. durra) which was combined with vinegar on a sponge and offered to Jesus on the Cross. [John 19: 28-29]