In Scripture the cup carries two distinct — and theologically inseparable — meanings: the cup of blessing and the cup of wrath. The cup of blessing speaks of one's God-given portion of joy and salvation: "My cup overflows" (Ps 23:5); "I will lift up the cup of salvation" (Ps 116:13). The cup of wrath is the full measure of divine judgment that sinners deserve: God makes nations "drink the cup of his wrath" (Isa 51:17). The cross is the watershed: in Gethsemane, Jesus asks, "Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me" (Matt 26:39) — then drinks it fully, so that his people drink only the cup of salvation. The Communion cup is the ongoing proclamation of this exchange (1 Cor 11:25).
CUP, n. [L. cupa, a tub or cask. Sax. cuppe.]
1. A small vessel used to contain drink, generally hemispherical in form, with or without a handle.
2. The contents of a cup; as much as a cup will hold.
3. In Scripture, cup is used figuratively for one's portion, lot or condition. "The cup of salvation," Ps. 116:13. "The cup of trembling," or of astonishment, Isa. 51:17. "The cup of consolation," Jer. 16:7. It is also used for the sufferings of Christ. "Can ye drink of the cup that I shall drink of?" Matt. 20:22.
The "cup" imagery in modern spirituality has been hollowed into clichés: "fill my cup, Lord" as a therapy-adjacent request for emotional renewal, entirely stripped of the cup-of-wrath dimension that gives the cup of blessing its staggering weight. To genuinely appreciate an "overflowing cup" requires understanding what cup Christ drank so we need not. The prosperity gospel version also corrupts the metaphor — treating the cup purely as a vessel for earthly blessing, ignoring that the disciples' cups Jesus warned them about included suffering and martyrdom (Mark 10:38–39).
Proto-Indo-European *keup- (hollow vessel, tub) → Latin cupa (cask, tub) → cuppa → Old English cuppe → "cup" Hebrew: כּוֹס (kos, H3563) — cup, goblet; used 31× in OT → Ps 23:5 (cup overflows), Ps 116:13 (cup of salvation) → Isa 51:17 (cup of God's wrath), Jer 25:15 (cup of wine of wrath) Greek: ποτήριον (potērion, G4221) — drinking cup, goblet → Used in Gethsemane (Matt 26:39), Last Supper (Luke 22:20), Rev 14:10 (cup of wrath) → Root: ποτός (potos) — drink; related to πίνω (pinō) — to drink
• Psalm 23:5 — "My cup overflows."
• Matthew 26:39 — "Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will."
• Isaiah 51:17 — "Wake yourself, wake yourself, stand up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the LORD's hand the cup of his wrath."
• 1 Corinthians 11:25 — "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me."
• Revelation 14:10 — "He also will drink the wine of God's wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger."
H3563 — kos (כּוֹס): cup, goblet; literal and metaphorical vessel of one's allotted portion from God.
G4221 — potērion (ποτήριον): drinking cup; used in the Lord's Supper narratives and Gethsemane; carries full weight of the cup-of-wrath / cup-of-blessing dichotomy.