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Bible Encyclopedias
Cup
The 1901 Jewish Encyclopedia
or âBiblical Data:
The word most commonly used in the Old Testament for drinking-vessel is 
(Gen. 11, 13). 
first occurs in the story of Joseph for the cup with which he "divined" (Genesis 44:2-12, Hebr.), and from Jeremiah 35:5 it appears that it was larger than the 
, corresponding to a goblet or crater. The 
was also one of the ornaments of the golden candlestick, or menorah (Exodus 25:33 et seq., 37:17-21), and is described as being "almond-shaped" (
), like the calyx of the almond-flower. Other words, like 
, which the English versions sometimes render by "cup" or "goblet" (Isaiah 22:24; Song of Solomon 7:3; Numbers 4:7; 1 Chronicles 28:17; Jeremiah 52:19), were used to designate rather a basin, or bowl-shaped vessel. It may be assumed that the cups of the Jews were in general of the same material, design, and workmanship as those of the Egyptians, Assyrians, and Phenicians, whose craters were celebrated even in Homer's time (Homer, "Iliad," 23:743; idem, "Odyssey," 4:615-618). The cups used at present in synagogues for "ḳiddush" and "habdalah" are generally of silver, oblong, and shaped like an inverted dome, with a stem and base, resembling the cup figured on the Maccabean coins.
Metaphorical Use.
"Cup" is frequently used in metaphors of good or of ill fortune, as in "My cup runneth over" (Psalms 23:5, 16:5); "the cup of his fury" (Isaiah 51:17,22); "the bowl of the cup of staggering" (Zechariah 12:2, Hebr.); "the cup of astonishment and desolation" (Ezekiel 23:33). Babylon is a "golden cup in the Lord's hand that made all the earth drunken" (Jeremiah 51:7). The "cup of consolation" (Jeremiah 16:7) is one offered to mourners; while the "cup of salvation" (Psalms 116:13) is a cup of thanksgiving for deliverance, in allusion, perhaps, to the wine of the peace-offering ("shelamim"), or to the cup of praise and thanksgiving.
âIn Rabbinical Literature:
In the Talmud the figurative use of "cup" for trouble and suffering (Ḥul. 92a; compare Gen. R. 88:5) is observed in the expression "to taste the taste of death" (
Yoma 78b; in the N. T., Matthew 16:28; Mark 9:1; John 8:52; Hebrews 2:9; compare "Etymologicon Magnum": ÏοÏήοιον...Ïημαίνει καὶ Ïὸν θάναÏον). Another figurative use of "cup" is for one's wife (Ket. 75b; Ned. 20b; Giá¹. 90a).
Tenâat one time fourteenâcups were ordained for the house of mourning (Ket. 8b; compare Sanh. 70a). The "cup of benediction"âe., the third of the four cups of the Passover mealâis often referred to (Ber. 51a; B. B. 97b, etc.; in the N. T., 1 Corinthians 10:16). For other interesting references to "cup" see Ket. 65a; Pes. 96b; Yoma 75a; Beáºah 15b, etc.
In Folk-Lore.
In Genesis 44:5 is found probably the oldest reference to divination by cup (ÎºÏ Î»Î¹ÎºÎ¿Î¼Î±Î½Ïεία, also λεκανομανÏεία), a species of hydromancy. According to the rabbinical explanation Joseph "feigned to prophesy by striking on the cup" (Gen. R. 91:6; compare also Rashi and Targ. Yer. to Genesis 43:33).
- Bliss, Mound of Many Cities, Nos. 174, 181, etc.;
- A. H. Layard, Nineveh and Its Remains, 2:236;
- idem, Nineveh and Babylon, pp. 180, 190, 192;
- Joseph Bonomi, Nineveh and Its Palaces, pp. 187 et seq.;
- Tieroff, De Scypho Josephi, Jena, 1657;
- François Lenormant, La Divination et la Science des Présages chez les Chaldées, pp. 78-80.
These files are public domain.
Singer, Isidore, Ph.D, Projector and Managing Editor. Entry for 'Cup'. 1901 The Jewish Encyclopedia. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/tje/c/cup.html. 1901.
