Cup

The cup turns up across scripture as a literal household-vessel, a sanctuary implement of precious metal, and a hand-delivered figure for what someone is given to drink — joy, salvation, consolation, sorrow, staggering, and wrath. Its movement is hand-to-hand: from cupbearer to king, from owner to lamb, from temple to spoiler, from the hand of Yahweh to the nations, from the Father to the Son, from the Lord to those at his table.

The household and royal vessel

In Pharaoh's cupbearer's dream the cup is the royal drinking-vessel that travels by hand from dreamer to king: "and Pharaoh's cup was in my hand; and I took the grapes, and pressed them into Pharaoh's cup, and I gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand" (Ge 40:11). In Nathan's parable the cup is the poor man's single household-vessel shared with the cherished ewe-lamb, who "ate of his own morsel, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was to him as a daughter" (2Sa 12:3). The shared cup marks the lamb as kin rather than livestock — it is the drinking-vessel that places her at the table of the household.

The silver cup of Joseph

Joseph's silver cup is named as the planted pivot of the contrived theft-charge against Benjamin: "And put my cup, the silver cup, in the sack's mouth of the youngest, and his grain silver. And he did according to the word that Joseph had spoken" (Ge 44:2). The possessive "my cup" fixes Joseph as owner, the apposition "the silver cup" fixes the metal, and the placement is into the youngest brother's grain-sack.

The bronze sea and its lily-cup brim

The vessel-imagery extends to the temple architecture. The molten sea Solomon makes is described by its cup-shaped brim: "And it was a handbreadth thick: and its brim was wrought like the brim of a cup, like the flower of a lily: it held two thousand baths" (1Ki 7:26).

Cups of pure gold for the sanctuary

David's transfer-inventory to Solomon places cups at the close of the pure-gold triad of sanctuary vessels: "and the flesh-hooks, and the basins, and the cups, of pure gold; and for the golden bowls by weight for every bowl; and for the silver bowls by weight for every bowl" (1Ch 28:17). When Nebuzaradan demolishes the temple, the gold-and-silver cup-set is carried off in its own metal at the head of a seven-vessel deportation list: "And the cups, and the firepans, and the basins, and the pots, and the lampstands, and the spoons, and the bowls — that which was of gold, in gold, and that which was of silver, in silver, — the captain of the guard took away" (Je 52:19). The temple's cup-set begins as Solomonic gift and ends as Babylonian spoil.

Ceremonial washings of cups

By the time of Mark's gospel the cup also figures in the inventory of vessels under traditional washing: "and [when they come] from the marketplace, except they bathe themselves, they don't eat; and many other things there are, which they have received to hold, washings of cups, and pots, and bronze vessels, and beds" (Mr 7:4). The cup is named first in the list.

The cup at the Lord's table

The cup is taken into the institution of the Lord's supper as the new-covenant vessel. "And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave to them: and they all drank of it" (Mr 14:23). Luke's cup-saying interprets the contents: "And the cup in like manner after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood, [even] that which is poured out for you⁺" (Lu 22:20). Paul places that cup over against the cup of demons as a binary-table choice: "You⁺ can't drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of demons: you⁺ can't partake of the table of the Lord, and of the table of demons" (1Co 10:21).

The cup of joy and the cup of salvation

The cup of the household-table can be a figure of overflow-blessing: "You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies: You have anointed my head with oil; My cup runs over" (Ps 23:5). The Psalter's lifted cup is the answering-act of deliverance: "I will take the cup of salvation, And call on the name of Yahweh" (Ps 116:13).

The cup of consolation

Where the cup figures sorrow, it can also figure comfort offered at a death — though Jeremiah's word announces its withdrawal: "neither will men break bread for the mourner, to comfort them for the dead; neither will men give them the cup of consolation to drink for their father or for their mother" (Jer 16:7).

The cup of sorrow and staggering

The cup more often moves from Yahweh's hand to the wicked as a measured drink of disaster. Psalm 11 names it as the wicked's portion: "On the wicked he will rain snares; Fire and brimstone and burning wind will be the portion of their cup" (Ps 11:6). Psalm 73 has the cup drained by those who turn to the prosperous: "Therefore his people return here: And waters of a full [cup] are drained by them" (Ps 73:10). Psalm 75 holds the cup in Yahweh's own hand and the dregs go to the wicked of the earth: "For in the hand of Yahweh there is a cup, and the wine foams; It is an undiluted mixture, and he pours out of the same: Surely its dregs, all the wicked of the earth will drain them, and drink them" (Ps 75:8).

Isaiah names the same vessel as Jerusalem's already-drained cup of staggering: "Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem, that have drank at the hand of Yahweh the cup of his wrath; you have drank the bowl of the cup of staggering, and drained it" (Isa 51:17). And then the same hand removes it: "Look, I have taken out of your hand the cup of staggering, even the bowl of the cup of my wrath; you will no more drink it again" (Isa 51:22).

Jeremiah extends the cup-of-wrath motion to the nations. Yahweh hands the prophet the cup himself and dispatches him: "take this cup of the wine of wrath at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send you, to drink it" (Jer 25:15). The drinkers are listed in order — Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, Pharaoh and Egypt, Uz and the Philistines, Edom and Moab and Ammon, Tyre and Sidon, Dedan and Tema and Buz, the kings of Arabia, of Zimri, of Elam, of the Medes, "and all the kings of the north, far and near, one with another; and all the kingdoms of the world" (Jer 25:26). And those who refuse the cup will be made to drink anyway: "And it will be, if they refuse to take the cup at your hand to drink, then you will say to them, Thus says Yahweh of hosts: You⁺ will surely drink" (Jer 25:28).

Ezekiel makes the cup a sister-cup that Oholibah is forced to drink to its sherds: "You have walked in the way of your sister; therefore I will give her cup into your hand" (Eze 23:31). "You will drink of your sister's cup, which is deep and large; you will be laughed to scorn and had in derision; it contains much" (Eze 23:32). "You will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, with the cup of astonishment and desolation, with the cup of your sister Samaria" (Eze 23:33). "You will even drink it and drain it out, and you will gnaw its sherds, and will tear your breasts" (Eze 23:34).

The cup the Father gives the Son

In Gethsemane the same handed-cup moves to the Son. "And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible to you; remove this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what you will" (Mr 14:36). Luke's parallel: "Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but yours, be done" (Lu 22:42). At the arrest the cup is named as the Father's own gift: "Put up the sword into the sheath: the cup which the Father has given me, shall I not drink it?" (Joh 18:11).

The cup of the wrath of God

Revelation closes the cup-of-wrath movement at the cup of God's anger poured undiluted: "he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed undiluted in the cup of his anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb" (Re 14:10).