Hebrew word · H1375

גָּבִיעַ

gevia'

cup

gavia': cup or goblet (Gen 44:2; Jer 35:5 wine bowls). kaftor: knob, round boss, capital of a column (Amos 9:1; Zeph 2:14). perach: bud, blossom, flower, from parach 'to sprout, bloom' (Num 17:8; Isa 18:5).

Appears 14 times in 11 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

cup, bowl

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Exodus 25:31

Range of meaning

gavia': cup or goblet (Gen 44:2; Jer 35:5 wine bowls). kaftor: knob, round boss, capital of a column (Amos 9:1; Zeph 2:14). perach: bud, blossom, flower, from parach 'to sprout, bloom' (Num 17:8; Isa 18:5).

Against the English

Renderings vary widely: KJV 'bowls… knops… flowers', YLT 'calyxes, knops, flowers', BSB 'cups… buds and petals', ESV 'cups… calyxes… flowers', NASB 'cups… bulbs… flowers'. No English set is exact; the botanical details are not certain.

How it drifted

KJV 'bowls' and NLT 'lamp cups' can make readers think these are the oil containers, but the lamps are a separate item (v.37).

Used elsewhere in the period

Verse 33 specifies 'cups shaped like almond blossoms' (meshuqqadim, from shaqed, 'almond'). Aaron's staff in Num 17:8 'put forth buds (perach), produced blossoms, and bore almonds', the same flowering-almond vocabulary. Josephus speaks of knobs, lilies, pomegranates and bowls. LXX: kratēres ('mixing bowls'), sphairōtēres ('ball-shaped knobs'), krina ('lilies').

From the study of Genesis 44:16

Range of meaning

A cup, goblet or bowl. It is used of the cups on the tabernacle lampstand (Exod 25:31–34) and of large wine bowls (Jer 35:5). In Gen 44 it is a silver drinking cup.

Against the English

'Cup' is accurate. What English does not show is the cup's role in the plot: the steward says Joseph 'divines' with it (44:5, 15).

Used elsewhere in the period

Divination by reading liquids in a cup (oil on water, for example) is known from Mesopotamian texts and the Egyptian world. In this passage the claim may be part of Joseph's act.

Where it appears

Genesis · 5

  1. Genesis 44:2 גְּבִיעִ֞י גְּבִ֣יעַ cup my, [the] cup of

    Put my cup, the silver one, in the mouth of the youngest one’s sack, along with the silver for his grain.” So the steward did as Joseph had instructed.

  2. Genesis 44:12 הַגָּבִ֔יעַ the cup

    The steward searched, beginning with the oldest and ending with the youngest—and the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack.

  3. Genesis 44:16 הַגָּבִ֖יעַ the cup

    “What can we say to my lord?” Judah replied. “How can we plead? How can we justify ourselves? God has exposed the iniquity of your servants. We are now my lord’s slaves—both we and the one who was found with the cup.”

    Here: The vizier's silver goblet (44:2, 5), described as the cup he uses for divination. It is a costly object, possibly used in rituals.

  4. Genesis 44:17 הַגָּבִ֜יעַ the cup

    But Joseph replied, “Far be it from me to do this. The man who was found with the cup will be my slave. The rest of you may return to your father in peace.”

Exodus · 8

  1. Exodus 25:31 גְּבִיעֶ֛יהָ cups its

    Then you are to make a lampstand of pure, hammered gold. It shall be made of one piece, including its base and shaft, its cups, and its buds and petals.

    Here: Cup-shaped ornaments; verse 33 specifies they are shaped like almond blossoms. The same word names Joseph's silver drinking cup (Gen 44:2). They are decoration on the shaft and branches, not the oil lamps themselves (those are named in v.37).

  2. Exodus 25:33 גְ֠בִעִים גְבִעִ֗ים cups

    There are to be three cups shaped like almond blossoms on the first branch, each with buds and petals, three on the next branch, and the same for all six branches that extend from the lampstand.

  3. Exodus 25:34 גְבִעִ֑ים cups

    And on the lampstand there shall be four cups shaped like almond blossoms with buds and petals.

  4. Exodus 37:17 גְּבִיעֶ֛יהָ cups its

    Then he made the lampstand out of pure hammered gold, all of one piece: its base and shaft, its cups, and its buds and petals.

  5. Exodus 37:19 גְ֠בִעִים גְבִעִ֗ים cups

    There were three cups shaped like almond blossoms on the first branch, each with buds and petals, three on the next branch, and the same for all six branches that extended from the lampstand.

  6. Exodus 37:20 גְבִעִ֑ים cups

    And on the lampstand were four cups shaped like almond blossoms with buds and petals.

Jeremiah · 1

  1. Jeremiah 35:5 גְּבִעִ֛ים bowls

    Then I set pitchers full of wine and some cups before the men of the house of the Rechabites, and I said to them, “Drink some wine.”

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.