Cupbearer

Biblical Occurrences

The cupbearer was a court official who prepared wine at the king's table and poured it into the king's cup. The Korean New Revised Version renders the office variously as "one in charge of wine," "chief officer in charge of wine," and "wine officer"; the KJV uses "butler," "chief butler," and "cupbearer."

• Genesis 40–41: The "chief butler," imprisoned for offending Pharaoh, king of Egypt, meets Joseph in prison. He dreams that he presses grapes from a vine of three branches into Pharaoh's cup, and Joseph interprets the dream to mean that he will be restored to his post within three days. As Joseph foretold, he is restored on Pharaoh's birthday, but he forgets Joseph: "Yet did not the chief butler remember Joseph, but forgat him" (Genesis 40:23). Only when Pharaoh has a dream "at the end of two full years" does he finally remember Joseph and tell the king about him (Genesis 41:1, 9–13).
• Nehemiah 1–2: Nehemiah was cupbearer to Artaxerxes, king of Persia: "For I was the king's cupbearer" (Nehemiah 1:11). In the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of the king's reign, the king noticed Nehemiah's sorrowful countenance as he was serving wine. Though greatly afraid, Nehemiah offered a brief prayer and then asked to be allowed to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, receiving the king's permission along with letters of authorization (Nehemiah 2:1–8).
• 1 Kings 10:5; 2 Chronicles 9:4: Among the things at the court of Solomon that astonished the Queen of Sheba were his "cupbearers."

Background

The Hebrew term mashqeh derives from a verb meaning "to give to drink," and it can also refer to a drink itself. In ancient Near Eastern courts, the office placed its holder close to the king and in a position of trust. This standing is generally understood to explain how Nehemiah was able to speak directly with the king and present so great a request. The event is commonly dated to around 445 BC.

A widely known view interprets "Rabshakeh," the title of the Assyrian official in 2 Kings 18, as an Assyrian title meaning "chief cupbearer," but the text itself does not describe his duties.

Significance in Scripture as a Whole

In both narratives, the cupbearer serves as a channel through which God's work is carried out within a foreign royal court. In the Joseph narrative, the chief butler's forgetfulness and belated remembrance become the occasion for Joseph to stand before Pharaoh, and Joseph later confesses that God had sent him ahead through all these events (Genesis 45:5–8). In Nehemiah's case, his position in the service of a foreign king becomes a means of aiding the community of the return from exile. The office does not appear directly in the New Testament.

Interpretations and Debates

• The poison-tasting theory: It is often added that the cupbearer tasted the wine first to guard against poisoning. This is an inference drawn from ancient court customs; the biblical text does not state it directly.
• The theory that Nehemiah was a eunuch: Some manuscripts of the Septuagint are reported to render "cupbearer" in Nehemiah 1:11 with a word close to "eunuch." On this basis some hold that Nehemiah was a eunuch, while others regard the reading as a textual variant; there is no consensus.
• Reading for providence: The Reformed tradition tends to emphasize God's sovereign providence, which encompasses even the chief butler's forgetfulness. Other interpreters focus on the faithfulness and prayer that Joseph and Nehemiah displayed in the positions given to them. The two readings are often combined.

In the Korean Church

In Korean preaching, "forgat him" in Genesis 40:23 and "at the end of two full years" in Genesis 41:1 are frequently paired as texts on waiting and God's timing. Nehemiah 2 is often cited in sermons that present a model for laypeople keeping their faith in the workplace and in the world, or a picture of leadership that combines prayer with action.