The Metaphor "cup"

[gheetam]

Hi there!! Happy Easter to everyone out there (who celebrates!!!)

This seems trivial - but I am doing a research on the metaphor "cup" used in the Bible. Could anyone help me on why the Bible (or the authors of the Bible) uses this particular metaphor? e.g cup of suffering, joy, blessings etc etc. Why not just "suffering"? Is there any connection with the customs and traditions of Judaism or prehaps influences of other religion at that time? how did this metaphor originate?

Thank you very much for your time.

God Bless

Esther

 

[Borealis]

I just read this article recently; you might find it highly enlightening.

http://www.catholic.com/thisrock/1991/9109fea1.asp

 

[gheetam]

Thanks so much. That was really interesting - now I am "off" to find out about the "4 cups".

God Bless

 

[Borealis]

Happy to help.

 

[ischus]

In the OT, the context of where, what, and why one drank from a cup was very significant. The contents of a cup may have been a blessing--liquid that sustains life, quenches thirst, begins or deepens a friendship. The contents of a cup could also be a curse--something which leads to foolishness, danger, or even death.

A cup was a sign of something deeper, a sign of love, comfort, strength, fellowship (ref. 2 Sam.11:1-4; Ps.23:5; Ps.16:5; PS.116:3; Mt.10:42; I Cor.10:16). A cup was also the sign of God's judgment over sin. Often, the rebellious, sinful nations are pictured as being drunk. The cup of wrath, then, was an important theological term (ref. Jer.25:15-16,27; Isa.51:17,22; Eze.23:31-34; Mk.14:36).

The cup of blessing/fellowship/salvation and the cup of wrath both convey the message of a deliberate act. It is interesting that the cup of wrath demonstrates how people bring judgment upon themselves. Drunkeness implies a humiliating progression: it begins with a confindence in one's own power to handle and conquer the wine, but it eventually master's the person instead. Sinners start out arrogant as well, but eventually they lose their dignity and respect as they drink the cup of wrath (Ps.75:8). Eventually they are drunk with God's judgment, staggering, unconscious (Isa.51:17-20), exposed and disgraced (Hab.2:16). Finally, they are driven to madness (Jer.51:7) and are scorned by their enemies (Isa.51:23). This was all due to their own choice.

** These were just some thoughts and a summary of an article from the Dictionary of Biblical Imagery, ed. Ryken, Wilhoit, and Longman III.

 

[StAnselm]

Just in the book of Mark, 'cup' is used in several different senses:

Communion (Mark 14:23)
Salvation (Mark 14:24)
Consummation (Mark 14:25)
God's Anger (Mark 14:36)
Temptation (15:23)