Cup

Cup a wine-cup (Genesis 40=>11, 21), various forms of which are found on Assyrian and Egyptian monuments. All Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold (1 Kings 10=> 21). The cups mentioned in the New Testament were made after Roman and Greek models, and were sometimes of gold (Revelation 17=>4). The art of divining by means of a cup was practiced in Egypt (Genesis 44=>2-17), and in the East generally. The “cup of salvation” (Psalm 116=>13) is the cup of thanksgiving for the great salvation. The “cup of consolation” (Jeremiah 16=>7) refers to the custom of friends sending viands and wine to console relatives in mourning (Proverbs 31=>6). In 1 Corinthians 10=>16, the “cup of blessing” is contrasted with the “cup of devils” (1 Corinthians 10=>21). The sacramental cup is the “cup of blessing,” because of blessing pronounced over it (Matthew 26=>27; Luke 22=>17). The “portion of the cup” (Psalm 11=>6; 16=>5) denotes one’s condition of life, prosperous or adverse. A “cup” is also a type of sensual allurement (Jeremiah 51=>7; Proverbs 23=>31; Revelation 17=>4). We read also of the “cup of astonishment,” the “cup of trembling,” and the “cup of God’s wrath” (Psalm 75=>8; Isaiah 51=>17; Jeremiah 25=>15; Lamentations 4=>21; Ezekiel 23=>32; Revelation 16=>19; comp. Matthew 26=>39, 42; John 18=>11). The cup is also the symbol of death (Matthew 16=>28; Mark 9=>1; Hebrews 2=>9).