UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament

Sense 1: cup

Semantic entry: 6.121

Semantic domains: Artifacts

Subdomains: Containers

Definition: an object from which one may drink

Notes: In place of the expression ‘cup of water’ (in which cup not only identifies the container but indicates the quantity of water), some languages would use the expression ‘water in a cup,’ but it is even more likely that the typical equivalent of ‘cup of water’ would be ‘a drink of water.’ In some parts of the world a term such as ‘cup’ would suggest something rather strange and foreign; therefore, one might find that an expression ‘a gourd of water’ would not only be more natural, but would be the semantic equivalent of ‘drink of water.’

Sense 2: to cause someone not to experience, to take the cup from

Semantic entry: 90.97

Semantic domains: Case

Subdomains: To Cause To Experience

Definition: (an idiom, literally: to take the cup … from) to cause someone to not undergo some trying experience

Collocations: παραφέρω / παρέρχομαι τὸ ποτήριον … ἀπό

Sense 3: to undergo a difficult experience, to drink the cup, to suffer

Semantic entry: 24.81

Semantic domains: Sensory Events and States

Subdomains: Pain, Suffering

Definition: (an idiom, literally: to drink a cup) to undergo a trying, difficult experience

Notes: In a number of languages it is not possible to use the phrase ‘to drink the cup,’ since this will almost inevitably refer to the drinking of a poison cup as a means of proving innocence in an ordeal. Even if one uses a literal rendering of the idiom ‘to drink the cup,’ it is usually necessary to have some explanation as to the significance of the idiom.

Collocations: πίνω ποτήριον