H3563a H3563a
cup, goblet — a drinking vessel; figuratively, one's divinely allotted portion or fate
Kos designates a drinking cup or goblet and appears 30 times with a remarkable dual register: concrete and metaphorical. In the Joseph narrative, Pharaoh's cupbearer squeezes grapes into Pharaoh's kos three times in a single verse (Gen 40:11), the most vivid literal usage. Nathan's parable of the poor man's ewe lamb that 'drank from his cup' (2 Sam 12:3) sits at the hinge between literal and figurative. The great prophetic metaphor of the 'cup of wrath' — God's kos of judgment forced upon nations — runs through Jeremiah 25:15-28, Isaiah 51:17-22, Ezekiel 23:31-34, and the Psalms (Ps 75:9). Yet the psalmist can also call YHWH 'my cup' in a positive sense: 'the LORD is the portion of my cup' (Ps 16:5) and 'my cup overflows' (Ps 23:5). Spanish 'copa,' French 'coupe,' and German 'Becher' all capture the vessel sense while the fate-metaphor transcends translation.
Senses
1. cup, goblet, chalice — A drinking vessel used for wine or other beverages, appearing in literal narrative contexts such as the cupbearer's dream (Gen 40:11-21), Nathan's parable (2 Sam 12:3), and the Rechabites' refusal (Jer 35:5). Also describes the ornamental rim of Solomon's molten sea (1 Kgs 7:26). The concrete usage anchors the word's richer metaphorical extensions in prophetic and wisdom literature. 30×
AR["الْ-كَأْسَ","الْكَأْسَ","الْكَأْسُ","كَأسُ","كَأْسٌ","كَأْسَ","كَأْسِ","كَأْسِي"]·ben["-পানপাত্র","আমার-পেয়ালা","পানপাত্র","পানপাত্রের","পেয়ালা","পেয়ালা-"]·DE["Becher","[כוס]","den-Becher","der-Becher","ein-Becher","mein-Becher"]·EN["a-cup","cup-of","cup-of-","my-cup","the-cup","the-cup-of"]·FR["comme-coupe","coupe","coupe-de","la-coupe"]·heb["ה-כוס","כוס","כוסי"]·HI["कटोरा","कोस","प्याला","प्याला-मेरा","प्याले"]·ID["cawan","piala"]·IT["[כוס]","calice","coppa-di","il-coppa"]·jav["cangkir","cangkir-kula","cangkir-punika","cangkiripun-","cawan","tuwung"]·KO["그-잔을","나-의-잔-이","의-잔을","잔","잔-이","잔을","잔이다"]·PT["cálice","cálice-de","cálice-de-","meu-cálice","o-cálice","taça-de","um-cálice"]·RU["чаша","чаша-моя","чашой","чашу","чашу-"]·ES["copa","copa-de","la-copa","la-copa-de-","mi-copa"]·SW["cha-Pharaoh","kikombe","kikombe-cha","kikombe-cha-","kikombe-changu","mkono","wa-Pharaoh"]·TR["-kadehi","kadehi","kadehi-","kadehim","kadeği","kase","kasesi","kasesini","kasesini-","kaseyi","kâse"]·urd["-پیالہ","میرا-پیالہ","پیالہ","پیالہ-اِس","پیالہ-وہ"]
Related Senses
H3808 1. simple negation (not) (4839×)G1722 1. locative: in, within (2442×)H1004b 1. house, dwelling, building (2015×)G3756 1. not (negation particle) (1635×)H4480a 1. source or separation (1198×)H5892b 1. city, town (1093×)G1519 1. direction: into, to, toward (1061×)H3427 1. Qal: to dwell, inhabit (937×)G1537 1. from, out of (source/origin) (886×)H8034 1. Name (designation / identifier) (856×)G3361 1. subjective negation (not) (834×)G1909 1. on, upon (spatial surface) (757×)H0369 1. existential negation: there is not (738×)H5869a 1. in the eyes/sight of (evaluative) (734×)H5650 1. Servant, attendant, subject (723×)H0408 1. prohibitive negation do-not (712×)G2443 1. so that, in order that (purpose/result) (665×)G0575 1. from (649×)G1223 1. through, by means of (582×)H3541 1. thus, so, in this manner (569×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† I. כּוֹס n.f. La 4:21 cup (√ unknown; perhaps kindred with כִּיס, q.v.; NH id.; Ph. כסת; Aramaic כָּס, ܟܳܣ; Arabic كَأْسٌ is Aramaic loan-wd. according to Frä 171, but see DHMVOJ i, 27)—כ׳ abs. Gn 40:11 +; כּ֯יֹס Pr 23:31; cstr. Gn 40:11 +; sf. כּוֹסִי ψ 16:5; 23:5 etc.; pl. abs. כֹּסוֹת Je 35:5;—cup 2 S 12:3; for wine Gn 40:11(×3), 13, 21 (all E), Pr 23:31 Je 35:5; שְׂפַת־כּוֹס 1 K 7:26 2 Ch…