Hebrew word · H4945

מַשְׁקֶה

mashkeh

cupbearer

From shaqah, "to give to drink." It can mean a cupbearer (Gen 40:1), drink (Lev 11:34), or drinking vessels (1 Kgs 10:21, kelê mashqeh).

Appears 19 times in 18 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

butler, cup-bearer

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 2 Chronicles 9:4

Range of meaning

From shaqah, "to give to drink." It can mean a cupbearer (Gen 40:1), drink (Lev 11:34), or drinking vessels (1 Kgs 10:21, kelê mashqeh).

Against the English

Most versions say "cupbearers." YLT's "stewards" is looser.

Used elsewhere in the period

In ancient Near Eastern courts the chief cupbearer was a trusted high official. Nehemiah was cupbearer to Artaxerxes (Neh 1:11), and the Assyrian title rab-shaqeh ("Rabshakeh," 2 Kgs 18) means "chief cupbearer."

From the study of Genesis 13:10

Range of meaning

A noun from shaqah, 'to give drink, to water'. It can mean the act or place of watering (an irrigated area), a drink or beverage (Lev 11:34; 1 Kgs 10:21), or the person who serves drink, the cupbearer (Gen 40:1-23; Neh 1:11).

Against the English

'Well watered' (most versions) is accurate. YLT's 'a watered country' keeps the noun. What English loses is the link with 'giving drink': the land is pictured as constantly supplied, like a guest whose cup is always filled.

Used elsewhere in the period

The same verb is used of Eden: 'a river went out from Eden to water (lehashqot) the garden' (Gen 2:10; compare 2:6). Deut 11:10-11 sets Egypt, which you 'watered (hishqita) with your foot' through irrigation channels, against Canaan, which 'drinks water from the rain of heaven'.

From the study of Nehemiah 1:11

Range of meaning

Literally 'one who gives drink' (from šāqâ, to give to drink). It can mean a drink or a well-watered place, but here it means the royal cupbearer, an official who served and safeguarded the king's wine.

Against the English

'Cupbearer' is accurate, but to modern readers it sounds like a waiter. YLT's 'butler' is even more misleading. In Near Eastern and Persian courts the cupbearer was a senior, highly trusted official with daily personal access to the king.

Used elsewhere in the period

Genesis 40–41 (Pharaoh's chief cupbearer, who speaks to the king on Joseph's behalf); 1 Kings 10:5 (Solomon's cupbearers impress the queen of Sheba). Herodotus 3.34 calls the cupbearer's post 'no small honour' at the Persian court. Xenophon, Cyropaedia 1.3.8–9, describes the cupbearer tasting the wine first. Tobit 1:22 makes Ahiqar 'chief cupbearer, keeper of the signet, and administrator' under Esarhaddon.

Where it appears

Genesis · 11

  1. Genesis 13:10 מַשְׁקֶ֑ה [was] well-watered

    And Lot looked out and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan, all the way to Zoar, was well watered like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt. (This was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.)

    Here: 'A watered place' or 'irrigated land.' It comes from the verb 'to give drink', so the land is pictured as always having water to drink, not waiting for rain.

  2. Genesis 40:1 מַשְׁקֵ֥ה [the] cup bearer of

    Some time later, the king’s cupbearer and baker offended their master, the king of Egypt.

  3. Genesis 40:2 הַמַּשְׁקִ֔ים the cup bearers

    Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker,

  4. Genesis 40:5 הַמַּשְׁקֶ֣ה the cup bearer

    both of these men—the Egyptian king’s cupbearer and baker, who were being held in the prison—had a dream on the same night, and each dream had its own meaning.

  5. Genesis 40:9 הַמַּשְׁקִ֛ים the cup bearers

    So the chief cupbearer told Joseph his dream: “In my dream there was a vine before me,

  6. Genesis 40:13 מַשְׁקֵֽהוּ׃ cup bearer his

    Within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore your position. You will put Pharaoh’s cup in his hand, just as you did when you were his cupbearer.

  7. Genesis 40:20 הַמַּשְׁקִ֗ים the cup bearers

    On the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, he held a feast for all his officials, and in their presence he lifted up the heads of the chief cupbearer and the chief baker.

    Here: Literally 'those who give drink', from a causative form of 'to drink'. They served the king's wine and were trusted with his safety and often his ear.

  8. Genesis 40:21 הַמַּשְׁקִ֖ים מַשְׁקֵ֑הוּ the cup bearers, cup bearing his

    Pharaoh restored the chief cupbearer to his position, so that he once again placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand.

  9. Genesis 40:23 הַמַּשְׁקִ֛ים the cup bearers

    The chief cupbearer, however, did not remember Joseph; he forgot all about him.

  10. Genesis 41:9 הַמַּשְׁקִ֔ים the cup bearers

    Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, “Today I recall my failures.

    Here: Literally 'those who give drink', from the verb 'to give to drink'. Their chief served wine to the king in person, so he was a man the king had to trust completely.

Leviticus · 1

  1. Leviticus 11:34 מַשְׁקֶה֙ drink

    Any food coming into contact with water from that pot will be unclean, and any drink in such a container will be unclean.

1 Kings · 2

  1. 1 Kings 10:5 וּמַשְׁקָ֔יו and cup-bearers his

    the food at his table, the seating of his servants, the service and attire of his attendants, his cupbearers, and the burnt offerings he presented at the house of the LORD, it took her breath away.

  2. 1 Kings 10:21 מַשְׁקֵ֨ה [the] drink of

    All King Solomon’s drinking cups were gold, and all the utensils of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. There was no silver, because it was accounted as nothing in the days of Solomon.

2 Chronicles · 2

  1. 2 Chronicles 9:4 וּמַשְׁקָיו֙ and cup-bearers his

    the food at his table, the seating of his servants, the service and attire of his attendants, the attire of his cupbearers, and the burnt offerings he presented at the house of the LORD, it took her breath away.

    Here: "And his cupbearers." The same word can mean "drink" or "drinking vessels," but the following "and their clothing" shows that persons are meant. The cupbearer was a trusted, prestigious officer of the court (Gen 40; Neh 1:11).

  2. 2 Chronicles 9:20 מַשְׁקֵ֨ה [the] drink of

    All King Solomon’s drinking cups were gold, and all the utensils of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. There was no silver, because it was accounted as nothing in the days of Solomon.

Nehemiah · 1

  1. Nehemiah 1:11 מַשְׁקֶ֖ה cup bearer

    O Lord, may Your ear be attentive to my prayer and to the prayers of Your servants who delight to revere Your name. Give Your servant success this day, I pray, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.” (At that time I was the cupbearer to the king.)

    Here: 'One who gives drink': the royal cupbearer, a trusted official who served and tested the king's wine and had close personal access to him.

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 32:6 וּמַשְׁקֶ֥ה and drink

    For a fool speaks foolishness; his mind plots iniquity. He practices ungodliness and speaks falsely about the LORD; he leaves the hungry empty and deprives the thirsty of drink.

    Here: Something given to drink. Related forms are used for the cupbearer and for watering land. Here it is the water a thirsty person needs.

Ezekiel · 1

  1. Ezekiel 45:15 מִמַּשְׁקֵ֣ה from [the] well-watered land of

    And one sheep shall be given from each flock of two hundred from the well-watered pastures of Israel. These are for the grain offerings, burnt offerings, and peace offerings, to make atonement for the people, declares the Lord GOD.

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