Joseph's divining cup (V'3; Gn 44'*) was of silver, and, we may infer, of elaborate workmanship, since the same word is used for the bowls (AV) or cups (RV), i.e. the flower-shaped ornamentation, on the candlestick of tlie tabernacle (which see for details, also Bowl). That the yjj was larger than the k6^ is clear from Jer 35». The nV"i? klsdvCth, of 1 Ch 28" (Phoen. cop, see Bloch's /"Aosn. Glossar, sub voce), were more probably flagons, as RV in Ex 25* 37" (but Nu 4' RV cups). The 'aggan (\m Is 22«) was rather a basin, as Ex 24°, than a cup (EV).
In NT ToHipiov is the corresponding name of the ordinary drinking-cup (water Mt 10** etc., wine 23*>etc.). The 'cup of blessing' (1 Co 10") is so named from the •iji^n o'lS k6^ hahhirdkhah of the Jewish Passover (which see, also Lord's Supper). The cup represented on the obverse of the so-called Maccabeeau shekels may be a cup such as was used on this occasion.
2. The word cnp has received an extended figurative application in both OT and NT. (a) As in various other literatures, 'cup' stands, esp. in Psalms, for the happy fortune or experience of one's earthly lot, mankind being thought of as receiving this lot from tlie hand of God, as the guest the wine-cup from the hand of his host, Ps 16' 23» 73" etc. But al.so conversely for the bitter lot of the wicked, Ps 11' (cf. c, below), and in par- ticular for the Buflerings of Jesus Christ, Mt 20^- '", Mk lO"- •» 14», Lk 22«^ Jn 18". (6) Another figure is the 'cup of salvation' (lit. 'of deliverances'), Ps 116". The reference is to the wine of the thank-offerings (D'pi>f ), part of the ritual of which was the festal meal before J" (cf. vv."^"'). A striking parallel is found in the inscription of iSoin"
• The Heb. !• limply ' let my right hand forget ' ( "J'C; njiffi), wtilch may be dealt with in three ways, 1. Ab a passive; eo LXX, iwtXnrSii^ n ixiti fi^v ; Vulg., olilivionl delur dexlera mea ; Luth., 80 werde meiner Recht*n vergessr-n ; Ostervald. que ma droite s'oublie elle-mOme ; Coverdale, ' let my right iiande be (orKotten.* Hut the fleb. as It stands cannot be tH pajuively. X. As a corrupt t«xt. The simplest emendation is profmsed by Delitzach, njj'B, which gives the pain, at once, and with which may be compared Jer 23«. Other suggested emendations will be round In Cheyne, Book of f'galtnt, crit. n. in Inc. Hut Well- hausen (in Ilaupt) leaves the Hch. untouched and unnoticed. 8. As an elUpnls. 80 [>«1. as an alternative, ' let my right hand •how lt«elf forgetful • (cf. WycUf's tr. *my rigt bond be gouun [given] to foryoting ' ; Cheyne, ' let my right hand deny iu service' (but in parchment ed. 1H84, 'let the strength of my right hand dry up') : Geneva. • forget to play' ; JJistiuiMi' Bible, ▲ V, and RV * forget ner cunmnff.'
of Gebal (Byblus), who is figured on his stele in the act of presenting such a cup of thanksgiving to the local deity (see his inscription in CiS i. 1). (c) By a still bolder figure the punitive wrath of the ollended Ueity is spoken of as a cup which the guilty, Israelites and heathen alike, must drain to the dregs. So Jer 25""- (the wine-cup [of] fury), Ezk 23'-'-»', Is 51"«- ('the cup of trembling' RV 'staggering'). Zee 12' (RV 'cup of reeling'), Ps 758, Rev 14" 16'" 18", for all wliicli see the com- mentaries, (d) Lastly, we have ' the cup of consola- tion (Trortipiov eh TrapdK\rt<riv)' ofl'ered to tue mourners after the funeral-rites were performed, Jer 16' (cf. Pr 31' and see Commentaries in loc. and Schwally, Das Leben nach d. Tode, § 8).
A. R. S. Kennedy.
CUPBEARER (.1^?'?).— An officer of considerable importance at Oriental courts, whose duty it was to serve the wine at the table of the king. The first mention of this officer is in the story of Joseph (Gn 40''"), where the term rendered ' butler ' (wh. see) in EV is the Heb. word above, ren- dered in other passages cupbearer (Arabic es- sdki). The holder of this office was brought into confidential relations with the king, and must have been thoroughly trustworthy, as part of his duty was to guard against poison iu the Icing's cup. In some cases he was required to taste the wine before presenting it. The position of Nehemiah as cupbearer to Artaxerxes Longimanus was evidently high. Herodotus (iii. 34) speaks of the office at the court of Cambyses, king of Persia, as ' an honour of no small account,' and the narrative of Neh. shows the high esteem of the king for him, who is so solicitous for his welfare that he asks the cause of his sadness (2'^). The cupbearers among the officers of king Solomon's household (1 K 10°) impressed the queen of Sheba, and they are men- tioned among other indications of the grandeur of his court, which was modelled upon courts ot other Oriental kings. The Rabshakeh, who was sent to Hezekiah (2 K 18"), was formerly supposed to have been cupbearer to Sennacherio, but the word (np\f^3n) means chi^ of the princes (see Del. on Is 36', and Sayce, HCM p. 441). Among the Assyrians, the cupbearers, like other attendants of the king, were commonly eunuchs, as may be seen from the monuments ; and such was the case gener- ally at Oriental courts. The Persians, however, did not so uniformlv employ eunuchs, and probably never so degraifed tlieir own people or tlie Jews who served tliem. Certainly, Nehemiah was not a eunuch. Herod the Great had a cupbearer who was a eunuch (Jos. Ant. XVI. viii. 1).