The Hebrew verb shatah (שָׁתָה) simply means to drink. It appears about 217 times in the OT across all genres — narrative, poetry, and prophecy — and carries profound symbolic significance in both ordinary and sacred contexts.
Shatah connects physical and spiritual thirst throughout Scripture. The great invitation of Isaiah 55:1 uses drinking as the metaphor for receiving God's grace: 'Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters.' The cup and drinking became key covenant symbols: at the Passover, Israel drank the cup of redemption; at the Last Supper, Jesus took the cup saying 'Drink from it, all of you' (Matthew 26:27). On the cross He cried 'I thirst' (John 19:28), draining the cup of wrath so that we might drink the cup of salvation (Psalm 116:13). Jeremiah speaks of the nations being made to drink the cup of God's wrath — the same cup Jesus drained on our behalf.