Cup
CUP
This word is taken in Scripture both in a proper and in a figurative sense. In a proper sense, it signifies a common cup, of horn, or some precious metal, Gen 40:13 44:2 1Ki 7:26, such as is used for drinking out of at meals; or a cup of ceremony, used at solemn and religious meals-as at the Passover, when the father of the family pronounced certain blessings over the cup, and having tasted it, passed it round to the company and his whole family, who partook of it, 1Co 10:16 . In a figurative sense, a cup is spoken of as filled with the portion given to one by divine providence, Psa 11:6 16:5; with the blessings of life and of grace, Psa 23:5 ; with a thank-offering to God, Exo 29:40 Psa 116:13 ; with liquor used at idolatrous feasts, 1Co 10:21 ; with love-potions, Jer 17:4 ; with sore afflictions, Psa 65:8 Isa 51:17 ; and with the bitter draught of death, which was often caused by a cup of hemlock or some other poison, Psa 75:8 . See Mat 16:28 Luk 22:42 Joh 18:11 . See CRUSE.
Fuente: American Tract Society Bible Dictionary
Cup
(usually , kos, prop. a receptacle; N.T. , a drinking vessel) denotes originally a wine-cup (Gen 40:11-21), various forms of which, of different materials, are delineated on the Egyptian and Assyrian monuments. SEE WINE. The cups of the Jews, whether of metal or earthenware, were possibly borrowed, in point of shape and design, from Egypt and from the Phoenicians, who were celebrated in that branch of workmanship (Il. 23:743; Od 4:615, 618). Among the Egyptians the forms of cups and vases were very varied, the paintings upon the tombs representing many of most elegant design, though others are equally deficient in the properties of form and proportion. The forms used during the fourth and other early dynasties (1700 B.C.) continued to be common to a late date (Kenrick, Egyptians of Time of Pharaohs, Lond. 1857, p. 48). There are not any representations of cups like the head of an animal (Bonomi, Nineveh and its Palaces, 3d edit. p. 215, 216). Many of the Egyptian vases, cups, and bowls were of gold (Herod. 2:151) and silver (Gen 44:2; comp. Num 7:84), some being richly studded with precious stones, inlaid with vitrefied substances in brilliant colors, and even enameled. In Solomon’s time all his drinking vessels were of gold, none of silver (1Ki 10:21). Babylon is compared to a golden cup (Jer 51:7). Assyrian cups from Khorsabad and Nimroud were of gold and bronze (Layard, Nineveh. 2:236; Nin. and Bab. p. 161; Bonomi, Nineveh. p. 187), as well as of glass and pottery. They were perhaps of Phoenician workmanship, from which source both Solomon and the Assyrian monarch possibly derived both their workmen and the works themselves. The cups and other vessels brought to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar may thus have been of Phoenician origin (Dan 5:2). SEE BANQUET.
On the bas-reliefs at Persepolis many figures are represented bearing cups or vases, which may fairly be taken as types of the vessels of that sort described in the book of Esther (Est 1:7; Niebuhr, Travels, 2:106; Chardin, Voyages. 8:268, pl. 58). The great laver, or sea, was made with a rim like the edge of a cup (cos), with flowers of lilies (1Ki 6:26), a form which the Persepolitan cups resemble (Jahn, Arch. 144). Similar large vases have been found represented at Khorsabad (Botta, pl. 76). The use of gold and silver cups was introduced into Greece after the time of Alexander (Athen. 6:229, 230; 11:446, 465; Birch, Anc. Pott. 2:109). The cups of the N.T. () were often, no doubt, formed on Greek and Roman models. (See Smith, Dict. of Class. Antiq. s.v. Patera.) They were sometimes of gold (Rev 17:4). Smith, s.v.; Fairbairn, s.v. The common Eastern drinking-cup is of brass, and frequently has devices and sometimes sentences from the Koran engraved on the inside (Lane, Mod. Eg. 1:222). As the Moslem law, however, forbids the drinking of wine to good Mohammedans, the common beverage in its place is coffee, which is invariably offered to visitors. The coffee (kahweh. i.e. the drink) is made very strong, and without sugar or milk. The coffee-cup (which is called fingan) is small, generally holding not quite an ounce and a half of liquid. It is of porcelain or Dutch-ware, and, being without a handle, is placed within another cup (called zarf) of silver or brass, according to the circumstances of the owner, and both in shape and size nearly like an egg-cup. In a full service there are ten fingans and zarfs of uniform kinds, and often another fingan and zarf of a superior kind for the master of the house or for a distinguished guest. In the accompanying sketch, the coffee-pot (bekreg or bakrcag) and the zarfs and tray are of silver, and are represented on a scale of one eighth of the real size. Below this-set are a similar zarf and fingan, on a scale of one fourth, and a brass zarf, with the fingan placed in it. Some zarfs are of plain or gilt silver filigree, and a few opulent persons have them of gold. Many Moslems, however, religiously disallow all utensils of gold and of silver (Lane, Mod. Eg. 1:205). SEE CUP-BEARER.
The practice of divining by means of a cup (, gabi’a; Gen 44:2-17; a goblet, distinguished from the preceding or smaller cups used in drinking: rendered pot in Jer 35:5; spoken of the calix-form bowls of the golden candlestick, Exo 25:31-34; Exo 38:17-26) was a practice of great antiquity in the East. We read in early Persian authors of the mystical cup of Jemshid (Bonomi, Nineveh. 3d ed. p. 306), which was imagined to display all the occurrences on the face of the globe (Tieroff, De Scypho Josephi, Jen. 1657; Tittel, id. Tor. 1727). SEE DIVINATION. The bronze cup, with the sacred beetle engraved in the bottom, found by Layard among the ruins of Nimroud, may have been used for such a purpose (Nineveh and Babylon, p, 157). , the word used in Genesis by the Sept., occurs in Hipparchus (up. Athen. p. 478, A), and is curiously, like the Indian kundi, a sacred Indian cup (Bohlen on Genesis 1). 403; Kalisch, Comment. p. 673). In Isa 22:24, the word translated cup is (aggan’, literally a trough for washing garments), and signifies a laver or basin (as it is rendered in Exo 24:6; goblet, Son 7:2). The cup of trembling (, saph, elsewhere basin or bowl) signifies a broad convex dish, such as is easily made to rock or vibrate.
The cups referred to in 1Ch 28:17, were the (kesavoth’), or broad bowls for libation (elsewhere improperly rendered covers, Exo 25:29; Exo 38:16; Num 4:7). Such vessels appear in the hands of the Assyrian king on the monuments, apparently in festive or religious drinking after public exploits (Bonomi, Nineveh. p. 252). In the Apocrypha we find the sacred vessels of Jehovah called , goblets (1Es 2:13. In their cups l. Esdras 3:22, is a rendering for , when they drink). SEE BASIN; SEE BOWL; SEE DISH; SEE VASE; SEE VIAL, etc. The word cup’ is used in both Testaments in some curious metaphorical phrases. Such are the cup of salvation (Psa 116:13), which Grotius, after Kimchi, explains as poculum gratiarum actionis,’ a cup of wine lifted in thanksgiving to God (comp. Mat 26:27). That it alludes to a paschal libation cannot be proved; and that it was understood by the Jews to be expressive of gratitude we may see from 3Ma 6:27, where the Jews offer cups of salvation’ in token of deliverance. In Jer 16:7 we have the term cup of consolation,’ which is a reference to the wine drunk at the , or funeral feasts of the Jews (2 Samuel 3:95; Pro 31:6; Joseph. War, 2:1).
In 1Co 10:16, we find the well-known expression cup of blessing’ ( ), contrasted (1Co 10:21) with the cup of devils.’ The sacramental cup is called the cup of blessing because of the blessing pronounced over it (Mat 26:27; Luk 22:17; see Lightfoot Hor. Hebr. in loc.). No doubt Paul uses the expression with a reference to the Jewish cup of blessing’ ( ), the third of the four cups drunk by the Jews at their Paschal feast (Schottgen, Hor. Hebr. in 1 Corinthians; Jahn, Bibl. Arch. 353), but it is scarcely necessary to add that to this Jewish custom our Lord, in his solemn institution of the Lord’s Supper, gave an infinitely nobler and diviner significance (Buxtorf, De Sacra Cana, 46, p. 310). Indeed, of itself, the Jewish custom was liable to abuse, and similar abuses arose even in Christian times (Augustine, Serm. 132, de tempore; Carpzov, App. Critic, p. 380 sq.). SEE PASSOVER. In Psa 11:5; Psa 16:5, the portion of the cup’ is a general expression for the condition of life, either prosperous or miserable (Psa 23:5). A cup is also in Scripture the natural type of sensual allurement (Jer 51:7; Pro 23:31; Rev 17:4; Rev 18:6). SEE BANQUET.
But in by far the majority of passages, the cup is a cup of astonishment,’ a cup of trembling,’ the full red flaming wine-cup of God’s wrath and retributive indignation (Psa 75:8; Isa 51:17; Jer 25:15; Lam 4:21; Eze 23:32; Zec 12:2; Rev 16:19, etc.). There is, in fact, in the prophets no more frequent or terrific image; and it is repeated with pathetic force in the language of our Lord’s agony (Mat 26:39; Mat 26:42; Joh 18:11; Mar 10:38). God is here represented as the master of a banquet, dealing the madness and stupor of vengeance to guilty guests (Vitringa in Isa 51:17; Wichmannshausen, De irce et tremoris Calice, in Thes. Nov. Theol. Philol. 1:906 sq.). The cup thus became an obvious symbol of death ( . . . , Etym. M.); and hence the Oriental phrase, to taste of death,’ so common in the N.T. (Mat 16:28; Mar 9:1; Joh 8:52; Heb 2:9), in the Rabbis (Schottgen, Hor. Hebr. in Matthew 16), in the Arabian poem Antar, and among the Persians (Schleusner, Lex. N.T., s.v. ; Jahn, Bibl. Arch. 203). The custom of giving a cup of wine and myrrh to condemned criminals (Otho, Lex. Rabb. s.v. Mors) is alluded to in Mat 27:34; Mar 15:22. See Wemyss, Clavis Symbol. s.v.; Stier, Words of Jesus, 1:378 sq. SEE CRUCIFIXION.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Cup (2)
SEE LORDS SUPPER.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Cup
a wine-cup (Gen. 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 (Rev. 17:4).
The art of divining by means of a cup was practiced in Egypt (Gen. 44:2-17), and in the East generally.
The “cup of salvation” (Ps. 116:13) is the cup of thanksgiving for the great salvation. The “cup of consolation” (Jer. 16:7) refers to the custom of friends sending viands and wine to console relatives in mourning (Prov. 31:6). In 1 Cor. 10:16, the “cup of blessing” is contrasted with the “cup of devils” (1 Cor. 10:21). The sacramental cup is the “cup of blessing,” because of blessing pronounced over it (Matt. 26:27; Luke 22:17). The “portion of the cup” (Ps. 11:6; 16:5) denotes one’s condition of life, prosperous or adverse. A “cup” is also a type of sensual allurement (Jer. 51:7; Prov. 23:31; Rev. 17:4). We read also of the “cup of astonishment,” the “cup of trembling,” and the “cup of God’s wrath” (Ps. 75:8; Isa. 51:17; Jer. 25:15; Lam. 4:21; Ezek. 23:32; Rev. 16:19; comp. Matt. 26:39, 42; John 18:11). The cup is also the symbol of death (Matt. 16:28; Mark 9:1; Heb. 2:9).
Fuente: Easton’s Bible Dictionary
Cup
Gen 40:11, for drinking; Gen 44:5, for divination, practiced by dropping gold, silver, or jewels into the water, and examining their appearance; or looking into the water as a mirror. The sacred cup symbolized the Nile (which was “the cup of Egypt,” Pliny H. N., 8:71) into which a golden and silver goblet was yearly thrown. Joseph’s cup was of silver; the Egyptians ordinarily drank from vessels of brass. Joseph’s preserving his disguise by language adapted to his supposed character before his brethren, “Wot ye not that such a man as I can certainly divine?” is inconsistent with his disclaiming all knowledge except what God revealed (Gen 41:16), but was the act of a good but erring man.
Scripture does not sanction it. One alone there was in whose mouth was found no guile (1Pe 2:22). Solomon and the Assyrians probably derived their art mainly from Phoenicia. Assyrian cups from Khorsabad resemble the heads of animals, some terminating in the head of a lion. In Mat 26:7 an “alabaster vase” for ointment is meant, broad at the base, tapering to the neck, with little projections at the sides; such as are in the British Museum. Glass was a material for cups, and a glass bead bearing a Pharaoh’s name of the 18th dynasty has been found, i.e. 3,200 years ago. Alabastron, a town in Upper Egypt, had quarries of alabaster near, from whence the name is derived. Figuratively, one’s portion (Psa 11:6; Psa 16:5; Psa 23:5). Babylon was called a golden cup (Jer 51:7), because of her sensuality, luxury, and idolatries which she gave draughts of to the subject nations; so mystical Babylon, the apostate church (Rev 17:4).
So “the cup of devils” is opposed to “the cup of the Lord” (1Co 10:21). To partake of a wine feast where a libation was first poured to an idol made one to have fellowship with the idol, just as believing participation of the Lord’s supper gives fellowship with the Lord. This is called “the cup of blessing which WE bless,” the celebrants being the whole church, whose leader and representative the minister is; answering to the passover “cup of blessing,” over which “blessing” was offered to God. It was at this part of the feast Jesus instituted His supper (1Co 10:15; Luk 22:17; Luk 22:20; compare 1Ch 16:2-3). Figurative also is the cup of affliction (Psa 75:8; Isa 51:17; Isa 51:22). Christ’s sufferings (Mat 20:22). The cup of salvation (Psa 116:13).
Fuente: Fausset’s Bible Dictionary
Cup
CUP (, in general significance corresponding to the Heb. and so used in the LXX Septuagint ; Vulgate equivalent is calix).
1. Literal.A few references to the cup as a vessel in common use occur in the Gospels: Mar 7:3-4, Mat 10:42 (= Mar 9:41) Mat 23:25-26 (= Luk 11:39). The first of these passages is plainly an explanatory parenthesis furnished by the Evangelist for the information of readers unacquainted with Jewish customs. , he says, are amongst the things subject to washings ()which washings I were not such as simple cleanliness required, but were prescribed by the decrees intended to separate the Jew from all contact with the Gentiles. The Talmudic tractate Kelim names seven kinds of things requiring such ceremonial purification, and amongst them are earthenware vessels and vessels of bone, metal, and wood. Resting on such Levitical prescriptions as are to be found in Leviticus 11 and Numbers 31, the purification of vessels was carried to the furthest extreme of stringent requirement by the tradition of the elders. Vessels that had in any way come into contact with the common people (am hrez) were on that account to be cleansed. (Maimonides, Yad. Mishkab and Moshab, 11. 11, 12, 18).
The words of Jesus in Mat 23:25-26 are simply an instance of the use of a homely figure to express hypocrisy.
2. Figurative.Our Lord uses the familiar Heb. figure of a cup to denote the experience of sorrow and anguish in two instances: (1) in His challenge to James and John, checking their ambition (Mar 10:36; Mar 10:39 = Mat 20:22-23, Are ye able to drink the cup which I drink?); and (2) in connexion with His Passion, both in His cry of agony (Mar 14:36 || in Mt. and Lk. this cup), and in His calm rebuke of Peters hasty attempt to defend Him against His captors (Joh 18:11 The cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?). In each case there is the same reference to His singular experience of bitter sorrow which was no mere bitterness of death.
It is noticeable that in the Gospels the use of this figure occurs only in connexion with trouble and suffering. In the OT the use is much wider. Experiences of joy, blessing, and comfort are thus expressed (e.g. Psa 16:5; Psa 23:5; Psa 116:13, Jer 16:7), as well as those of trembling, desolation, and the wrath of God (Isa 51:17 ff., Jer 25:15 ff., Eze 23:32 ff., Zec 12:2). Rabbinic writers exhibit the figurative use of cup for trouble and anguish (Gesen. Thes. s.v. ). The kindred expression, taste the taste of death, is also to be met with (Buxtorf, . s.v. ). The conception of death as a hitter cup for men to drink underlies it. (Note the Magnum gives ). Instances of this phraseology in the Gospels are (in the words of Jesus) Mar 9:1 (= Mat 16:28) and (in the words of the Jews) Joh 8:52. Cf. also Heb 2:9.
3. In the institution of the Lords Supper.There are strong inducements to see in the cup in the Last Supper one of the cups which had a place in the later ceremonial of the Paschal feast. But was the supper the usual Passover? This is a much-debated question; but on the whole the weightier considerations seem to support the view presented in the Fourth Gospel, the account in which may be intended, as some suggest, to correct the impression given by the Synoptics. That is to say, the supper was not the Passover proper, and it took place on the day previous to that on which the Passover was eaten. It might still be held that it was an anticipatory Passover. St. Paul, it is true, speaks of the Eucharistic cup as the cup of blessing (1Co 10:16), and one is inclined to make a direct connexion with the third cup at the Paschal celebration, which was known as the Cup of Benediction ( ), and is often referred to in the Talmudic tractates (.g. , 51). If St. Lukes account of the Last Supper were to be received without question, it would be tempting to trace three out of the four Paschal cups, viz. the one mentioned in Luk 22:17, the one common to the Synopticsthe cup of blessing, and the fourth, or Hallel cup, suggested by (Mar 14:26 = Mat 26:30), taking the hymn referred to as none other than the second part of the Hallel (Psalms 115-118), with which the Passover was usually closed. Luk 22:19 b, Luk 22:20, however, is not above suspicion: and on other grounds we cannot definitely connect the cup of the institution with the ceremonial of the Paschal feast.
But the cup was an important feature in other Jewish festivals and solemn seasons besides the Passover. And even though the institution took place at the close of an ordinary meal, the bread and the cup were accompanied with the due Jewish graces (Mat 26:26 f., Mar 14:22 f., Luk 22:17; Luk 22:19), and in the after-view the cup thus used, and with such significance, might well stand out as par excellence the Cup of Blessing.
The words of Jesus regarding the cup are given with some noticeable variation. Mk. gives (Mar 14:24); and Mt. reproduces this with but slight changes, possibly of a liturgical character (Mat 26:28). The wording in Luk 22:17 makes no reference to the blood, whilst Luk 22:20 (referred to above) appears to be but an interpolation, clumsily ( ) combining the form in St. Paul with that in St. Mark. The solemn expression, my blood of the covenant, or my covenantblood, can be explained only by reference to Exo 24:6-8. St. Pauls phrase, (1Co 11:25), introduces an important difference of meaning as compared with the Markan formula. To lay stress on the idea of a new covenant is all in keeping with the Pauline standpoint. One other point as regards the words of the institution alone remains to be mentioned. As with the bread eo with the cup, St. Paul alone represents our Lord as saying (1Co 11:24-25). Is it possible, then, that no permanent sacramental rite was contemplated by Jesus in doing what He did at the Last Supper? Is the conception of a memorial celebration due rather to St. Paul as a prime factor in the development of Christianity? Obviously this is not the place to deal with this important question, and the attitude of historical criticism respecting it. We have assumed that what took place at the Last Supper was an institution. See artt. Covenant, Lords Supper.
4. In the Eucharist.(1) From the first the common usage in administration no doubt gave the cup after the bread, in accordance with the order observed in Mark, Matthew, and Paul. St. Luke in his shorter (and better supported) account (Luk 22:17-19) exhibits a noticeable divergence in placing the cup first in order. This may be due, as Wright suggests (Synopsis of the Gospels, p. 140), to some local Eucharistic use. The Didache (ch. 9) also puts the cup first; but the fact as to the general established usage remains unaffected.
(2) As to the cup used in the communion there would at first be no difference between it and such vessels as were in ordinary use, and the materials of which the Eucharistic vessels were made were by no means of one kind. Zephyrinus of Rome, a contemporary of Tertullian, speaks of patens of glass, and Jerome (circa (about) 398 a.d.) speaks of a wicker basket and a glass as in use for communion purposes. Cups of wood and of horn also appear to have been used in some cases. We find certain provincial councils in the 8th and 9th cents, prohibiting the use of such, and also of leaden vessels. Cups were sometimes made of pewter; and bronze, again, was commonly used by the Irish monks, St. Gall preferring vessels of this material to those of silver. At the same time the natural tendency to differentiate in regard to vessels devoted to such a special service must have begun soon to manifest itself. Where it was possible, at an early period the cup was made of rich materials, such as gold and silver. Similarly as regards form and ornamentation. Tertullian (de Pudicitia, 10) speaks of the cup as being adorned with the figure of the Good Shepherd. In the course of time we get chalices of great price and wonderful workmanship, corresponding to the rare and costly Passover and other festal cups which Jews similarly cherish as art treasures.
It is needless to mention particularly the several kinds of chalices which came to be distinguished as the Eucharistic rites were made more elaborate. Our own times, again, it may just be noticed, have given us the individual communion cup, which, on hygienic grounds, finds favour in some quarters. Though in some respects a modern institution, perhaps it may claim a precedent in the most primitive usage. The use of separate cups might be inferred from 1Co 11:17-34. Nor is the hygienic objection to the common chalice wholly new. The difficulty was felt in mediaeval times when the plague was so rife. In the 14th cent, special pest-chalices were in use for sick cases.
(3) The custom of mixing water with the wine in the chalice, to which Justin Martyr makes a well-known reference (Apol. i. 67), accords with Jewish precedent. Speaking of the Jewish use, Lightfoot (Hor. Heb. on Mat 26:27) says, Hence in the rubric of the feasts, when mention is made of the wine they always use the word mizgu, they mix for him the cup. Maimonides (Hamez umaz. 7, 8) assumes the use of water. If the cup our Lord gave to His disciples were one of the ceremonial Paschal cups, we may take it that it contained a mixture of water and wine. And if it were not, nothing is more likely than that the Apostles, in observing the rite, would follow the Jewish custom of mixture. A passage in the Talmud (Bab. [Note: Babylonian.] Berakhoth, 50, 2) suggests that water was thus added to the wine for the sake of wholesomeness and in the interests of sobriety.
In the course of time various fanciful suggestions came to be made as to a symbolic purpose in connexion with the mixed chalice in the Eucharist, ignoring its simple origin in an earlier Jewish custom. Thus it was variously held that in this way the union of Christ and the faithful was signified; that the water from the rock was represented; that the water and the blood from the pierced side of the Crucified were commemorated. At last it was affirmed that the water was added to the cup solely for significance: and so the addition of a very small quantity of water (a small spoonful) came to be considered sufficient. One drop is as significant as a thousand (Bona, Rer. Liturg. ii. ix. note 3Cum vero aqua mysterii causa apponatur vel minima gutta sufficiens est).
(4) Was wine from the first invariably used and regarded as obligatory in the Eucharist? Harnack (Brod u. Wasser, TU [Note: U Texte und Untersuehungen.] vii. [1892]) holds that it was not so up to the 3rd cent., and traces the use of bread and water (but see, in reply, Zahn, Brod u. Wein, ib.; Jlichers essay in Theol. Abhandlungen; and Grafe, ZThK [Note: ThK Zeitschrift f. Theologie u. Kirche.] v. 2). It would be difficult to maintain that the genius of the sacrament vitally depended on the use of wine; but in its favour we have the great preponderance of custom and sentiment. In modern times there are those who, for one reason and another, feel a difficulty regarding communion wine, and are disposed to use substitutes of some kind. Such might be disposed to welcome a sort of precedent in the use permitted by Jewish regulations in certain cases as regards their festival cups. In northern countries, e.g., where wine was not accessible as a daily beverage for the mass of the Jews, syrup, juice of fruits, beer or mead, etc., are named as instances of allowable substitutes. Such substitutes are curiously included under the common appellation the wine of the country. (See ShulhanArukh, Orah Hag. 182. 1, 2).
(5) The withholding of the cup from the laity in the Communion, which came into vogue in the Western Church, and is still a Roman Catholic usage, may be briefly referred to. It is admitted by Romish authorities that communion in both kinds was the primitive custom for all communicants. Cardinal Bona, e.g., says: It is certain, indeed, that in ancient times all without distinction, clergy and laity, men and women, received the sacred mysteries in both kinds (Rer. Liturg. ii. xviii. 1). The practice of withholding the cup does not come into view before the 12th century. The danger of effusion was offered as a reason for it. Short of this, as an expedient against effusion, we find slender tubes (fistulae) or quills brought into use, the communicants drawing the wine from the chalice by suction. Another intermediate stage towards communion in one kind was the practice of intinction, i.e. administering to the people the bread dipped in the wine. This practice, however, was condemned in the West, but it remains as the custom of the Eastern Church still, the sacred elements in this form being administered to the laity with a spoon (). Ultimately the rule of communion in one kind was ordained in the West by a decree of the Council of Constance in 1415; and the reason assigned for the decree was that it was to avoid certain perils, inconveniences, and scandals. This momentous change, however, was not brought about without much demur and opposition. The decree of Constance itself did not immediately and universally take effect; for after this time there were even in Rome cases where the cup was administered. The great Hussite movement in Bohemia, contemporaneous with the Council of Constance itself, offered determined opposition to the withdrawal of the cup; and the kindred Utraquist Communion in that country continued for two centuries their protest as Catholics who claimed the celebration of the Lords Supper in both kinds, after the primitive usage. The badge of the Utraquists, a large chalice together with a swordsignificant conjunction!bespoke the sternness of the conflict.
What really lay at the root of this prohibition of the cup was the tremendous dogma of transubstantiation, with all its implicates, together with a hardening of the distinction between the clergy and the people. The growth of this Eucharistic custom proceeded pari passu with the development of the dogma. Naturally, therefore, the restoration of the cup to the people was a necessary part of the Reformation claim. It is also worthy of remembrance that even in the Tridentine Council there were not wanting Romanist advocates of this as well as other reforms; but no compromise counsels prevailed, and the rule in its fullest rigidity was reaffirmed.
How strange to look back over the welter of controversy and the many saddening developments connected with but this one point of Eucharistic observance, away to that simple eveningmeal which took place in the same night that he was betrayed!
J. S. Clemens.
Fuente: A Dictionary Of Christ And The Gospels
Cup
CUP.1. In OT the rendering of various words, the precise distinction between which, either as to form or use, is unknown to us. The usual word is ks, the ordinary drinking-vessel of rich (Gen 40:11; Gen 40:13; Gen 40:21) and poor (2Sa 12:3) alike, the material of which varied, no doubt, with the rank and wealth of the owner. Josephs divining cup (gbha, Gen 44:2 ff.) was of silver, and, we may infer, of elaborate workmanship, since the same word is used for the bowls (AV [Note: Authorized Version.] ) or cups (RV [Note: Revised Version.] ), i.e. the flower-shaped ornamentation, on the candlestick of the Tabernacle. That the gbha was larger than the ks is clear from Jer 35:5. The ksvth of 1Ch 28:17 were more probably flagons, as RV [Note: Revised Version.] in Exo 25:29; Exo 37:16 (but Num 4:7 RV [Note: Revised Version.] cups). The aggn (Isa 22:24) was rather a basin, as Exo 24:6, than a cup (EV [Note: English Version.] ).
In NT potrion is the corresponding name of the ordinary drinking-cup (water Mat 10:42 etc., wine Mat 23:25 etc.). The cup of blessing (1Co 10:16) is so named from the ks habberkhah of the Jewish Passover (wh. see, also Eucharist).
2. The word cup 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 ones earthly lot, mankind being thought of as receiving this lot from the hand of God, as the guest receives the wine-cup from the hand of his host (Psa 16:5; Psa 23:5; Psa 73:10 etc.). But also, conversely, for the bitter lot of the wicked, Psa 11:6 (cf (c) below), and in particular for the sufferings of Jesus Christ, Mat 20:22-23, Mar 10:38-39; Mar 14:36, Luk 22:42, Joh 18:11. (b) Another figure is the cup of salvation (lit. of deliverances), Psa 116:13. The reference is to the wine of the thank-offerings, part of the ritual of which was the festal meal before J [Note: Jahweh.] (cf. vv. Psa 116:14 a, Psa 116:17 ff.). (c) By a still bolder figure the punitive wrath of the offended Deity is spoken of as a cup which the guilty, Israelites and heathen alike, must drain to the dregs. So Jer 25:15 ff. (the wine-cup [of] fury), Eze 23:32-34, Isa 51:17 ff. (the cup of trembling, RV [Note: Revised Version.] staggering), Zec 12:2 (RV [Note: Revised Version.] cup of reeling), Psa 75:8, Rev 14:10; Rev 16:19; Rev 18:6, for all which see the commentaries. (d) Lastly, we have the cup of consolation offered to the mourners after the funeral-rites, Jer 16:7 (cf. Pro 31:6).
Fuente: Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible
Cup
I need not make any observation, by way of explaining what is so very plain and well understood in common life, as that of a cup. Neither, indeed should I have thought it necessary to have detained the reader over the word, had that been all that I proposed from it. But as the word cup is sometimes, and indeed, not unfrequently in Scripture, used figuratively, I thought it proper to attend to what is implied in the term. Sometimes the cup is placed for sorrow, and sometimes for joy, and the lot or portion of a man is called his cup. Hence, the Psalmist speaking of the blessings of grace in the Lord Jesus, calls them, the cup of salvation. (Psa 116:13) And Paul, when describing the blessedness of union with Christ, and communion in consequence thereof with God, calls the ordinance which resembles it, a cup. “The cup which we bless (saith he,) is it not the communion of the blood of Christ?” (1Co 10:16) Sometimes it is made use of to intimate a participation in suffering. “Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem! which hast drunk at the hand of the Lord the cup of his fury; thou hast drunken the dregs of the cup of trembling, and wrung them out.” (Isa 51:17) And as this, no doubt, under the language of prophecy, referred to Christ, so in open language the Lord Jesus himself, speaking of his soul-exercises, calls it a cup. (Mat 26:39-42; Joh 18:11)
Fuente: The Poor Mans Concordance and Dictionary to the Sacred Scriptures
Cup
(Most frequently, , kos; four other words in one passage each; , poterion): A vessel for drinking from, of a variety of material (gold, silver, earthenware), patterns (Est 1:7) and elaboration.
Figurative: By ordinary figure of speech, put sometimes for the contents of the cup, namely, for that which is drunk (Mat 26:39). In both Old Testament and New Testament applied figuratively to that which is portioned out, and of which one is to partake; most frequently used of what is sorrowful, as God’s judgments, His wrath, afflictions, etc. (Psa 11:6; Psa 75:8; Isa 51:17; Rev 14:10). In a similar sense, used by Christ concerning the sufferings endured by Him (Mat 26:39), and the calamities attending the confession of His name (Mat 20:23). In the Old Testament applied also to the blessedness and joy of the children of God, and the full provision made for their wants (Psa 16:5; Psa 23:5; Psa 116:13; compare Jer 16:7; Pro 31:6). All these passages refer not only to the experience of an allotted joy and sorrow, but to the fact that all others share in this experience. Within a community of those having the same interests or lot, each received his apportioned measure, just as at a feast, each cup is filled for the individual to drain at the same time that his fellow-guests are occupied in the same way.
The Holy Supper is called the cup of the Lord (1Co 10:21), since it is the Lord who makes the feast, and tenders the cup, just as the cup of demons with which it is contrasted, refers to what they offer and communicate. In 1Co 11:25, the cup is called the new covenant in my blood, i.e. it is a pledge and seal and means of imparting the blessings of the new covenant (Heb 10:16 f) – a covenant established by the shedding of the blood of Christ. The use of the word cup for the sacrament shows how prominent was the part which the cup had in the Lord’s Supper in apostolic times. Not only were all commanded to drink of the wine (Mat 26:27), but the very irregularities in the Corinthian church point to its universal use (1Co 11:27). Nor does the Roman church attempt to justify its withholding the cup from the laity (the communion in one form) upon conformity with apostolic practice, or upon direct Scriptural authority. This variation from the original institution is an outgrowth of the doctrines of transubstantiation and sacramental concomitance, of the attempt to transform the sacrament of the Eucharist into the sacrifice of the Mass, and of the wide separation between clergy and laity resulting from raising the ministry to the rank of a sacerdotal order. The practice was condemned by Popes Leo I (died 461) and Gelasius (died 496); but gained a firm hold in the 12th century, and was enacted into a church regulation by the Council of Constance in 1415. See also BLESSING, CUP OF.
As to the use of cups for divination (Gen 44:5), the reference is to superstitious practice derived from the Gentiles. For various modes of divining what is unknown by the pouring of water into bowls, and making observations accordingly, see Geikie, Hours with the Bible, I, 492 f, and article DIVINATION.
Fuente: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Cup
Various Hebrew words are so translated, having regard to the different uses to which the cup was put. It is frequently used for that which the cup contains, causing either joy or sorrow, as “I will take the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord.” Psa 116:13. “In the hand of the Lord there is a cup, and the wine is red . . . . the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out and drink them.” Psa 75:8: cf. Rev 14:10; Rev 16:19, etc. And so in many other instances; and especially in that of the cup of which the Lord Jesus drank when bearing sin. Mat 26:27; Mat 26:39; Mat 26:42; Joh 18:11. In the Lord’s Supper the ‘cup’ is put for the wine which was an emblem of the blood of Christ. 1Co 10:16; 1Co 10:21; 1Co 11:25-28.
Fuente: Concise Bible Dictionary
Cup
General references
Gen 40:11; 2Sa 12:3; 1Ki 7:26; Mat 23:25
Made of silver
Gen 44:2
Made of Gold
1Ch 28:17; Jer 52:19
Used in the institution of the Lord’s Supper
Mat 26:27; Mar 14:23; Luk 22:20; 1Co 10:21
Of the table of devils
1Co 10:21
Figurative:
– Of sorrow
Psa 11:6; Psa 73:10; Psa 75:8; Isa 51:17; Isa 51:22; Jer 25:15-28; Eze 23:31-34; Mat 20:22-23; Mat 26:39; Mar 14:36; Luk 22:42; Joh 18:11; Rev 14:10
– Of consolation
Jer 16:7
– Of joy
Psa 23:5
– Of salvation
Psa 116:13
Fuente: Nave’s Topical Bible
Cup
Cup. The cups of the Jews, whether of metal or earthenware, were possibly borrowed, in point of shape and design, from Egypt and from the Phoenicians, who were celebrated in that branch of workmanship. Egyptian cups were of various shapes, either with handles or without them.
In Solomon’s time, all his drinking vessels were of gold, none of silver. 1Ki 10:21. Babylon is compared to a golden cup. Jer 51:7. The great laver, or “sea,” was made with a rim like the rim of a cup, (cos), with flowers of lilies,” 1Ki 7:26, a form which the Persepolitan cups resemble. The cups of the New Testament were often, no doubt, formed on Greek and Roman models. They were sometimes of gold. Rev 17:4.
Fuente: Smith’s Bible Dictionary
Cup
a diminutive of poter, denotes, primarily, a “drinking vessel;” hence, “a cup” (a) literal, as, e.g., in Mat 10:42. The “cup” of blessing, 1Co 10:16, is so named from the third (the fourth according to Edersheim) “cup” in the Jewish Passover feast, over which thanks and praise were given to God. This connection is not to be rejected on the ground that the church at Corinth was unfamiliar with Jewish customs. That the contrary was the case, see 1Co 5:7; (b) figurative, of one’s lot or experience, joyous or sorrowful (frequent in the Psalms; cp. Psa 116:18, “cup of salvation”); in the NT it is used most frequently of the sufferings of Christ, Mat 20:22-23; Mat 26:39; Mar 10:38-39; Mar 14:36; Luk 22:42; Joh 18:11; also of the evil deeds of Babylon, Rev 17:4; Rev 18:6; of Divine punishments to be inflicted, Rev 14:10; Rev 16:19. Cp. Psa 11:6; Psa 75:8; Isa 51:17; Jer 25:15; Eze 23:32-34; Zec 12:2.
Fuente: Vine’s Dictionary of New Testament Words
Cup
This word is taken in a twofold sense; proper, and figurative. In a proper sense, it signifies a vessel, such as people drink out of at meals, Gen 40:13. It was anciently the custom, at great entertainments, for the governor of the feast to appoint to each of his guests the kind and proportion of wine which they were to drink, and what he had thus appointed them it was deemed a breach of good manners either to refuse or not to drink up; hence a man’s cup, both in sacred and profane authors, came to signify the portion, whether of good or evil, which happens to him in this world. Thus, to drink the cup of trembling, or of the fury of the Lord, is to be afflicted with sore and terrible judgments, Isa 51:17; Jer 25:15-29; Psa 75:8. What Christ means by the expression, we cannot be at a loss to understand, since in two remarkable passages, Luk 22:42, and Joh 18:11, he has been his own interpreter. Lethale poculum bibere, to drink the deadly cup, or cup of death, was a common phrase among the Jews; and from them, we have reason to believe, our Lord borrowed it.
CUP OF BLESSING, 1Co 10:16, is that which was blessed in entertainments of ceremony, or solemn services; or, rather, a cup over which God was blessed for having furnished its contents; that is, for giving to men the fruit of the vine. Our Saviour, in the Last Supper, blessed the cup, and gave it to each of his Apostles to drink, Luk 22:20.
CUP OF SALVATION, Psa 116:13, a phrase of nearly the same import as the former, a cup of thanksgiving, of blessing the Lord for his saving mercies. We see, in 2Ma 6:27, that the Jews of Egypt, in their festivals for deliverance, offered cups of salvation. The Jews have at this day cups of thanksgiving, which are blessed, in their marriage ceremonies, and in entertainments made at the circumcision of their children. Some commentators think that the cup of salvation was a libation of wine poured on the victim sacrificed on thanksgiving occasions, according to the law of Moses, Exo 29:40.
Fuente: Biblical and Theological Dictionary
Cup
Psa 16:5 (b) This figure describes the blessings which satisfied David’s heart and soul.
Psa 23:5 (b) By this figure David described the fullness of joy and peace which was his portion because of the Lord’s goodness to him.
Isa 51:17 (b) This type is used to describe the action of our Lord in pouring out His wrath and indignation upon the peoples of Jerusalem who were forced to submit to His punishment. (See Hab 2:16).
Mat 26:42 (b) This probably represents GOD’s wrath, judgment and punishment handed to the Lord JESUS for Him to drink when He was nailed to Calvary for us. Probably the cup was the agony endured by CHRIST when He was made sin for us. (See 2Co 5:21).
1Co 10:16 (b) This indicates that the Lord expects His own people to drink and to make a part of themselves the forgiveness, redemption and cleansing that comes through the precious Blood of CHRIST. It also represents the cumulative blessings that come through fellowship and association with GOD’s people as they meet together.