Lexical Summary mashqeh: Cupbearer, drink, drink offering Original Word: מַשְׁקֶה Strong's Exhaustive Concordance butlership, cupbearer, drinking, fat pasture, watered From shaqah; properly, causing to drink, i.e. A butler; by implication (intransitively), drink (itself); figuratively, a well-watered region -- butler(-ship), cupbearer, drink(-ing), fat pasture, watered. see HEBREW shaqah Brown-Driver-Briggs I. מַשְׁקֶה noun masculine butler, cup-bearer (properly Participle Hiph`il = one giving drink); — absolute ׳מ Genesis 40:5 (E), Nehemiah 1:11, construct מַשְׁקֵה Genesis 40:1, suffix מַשְׁקֵ֫הוּ Genesis 40:13, plural מַשְׁקִים Genesis 40:2; Genesis 40:9; Genesis 40:20; Genesis 40:21; Genesis 40:23; Genesis 41:9 (all E); suffix מַשְׁקָיו 1 Kings 10:5 2Chronicles 9:4 ( > II. ׳מ). II. מַשְׁקֶה noun masculineLeviticus 11:34 irrigation, drink; — absolute ׳מ Genesis 13:10; Leviticus 11:34, construct מַשְׁקֵה 1 Kings 10:21 3t.; suffix מַשְׁקֵ֫הוּ Genesis 40:21; — 1 irrigation Genesis 13:10 (J; abstract for concrete, =) well-irrigated, of land; Ezekiel 45:15 (< ᵐ5 Co Siegf Berthol Toy Krae מִשְׁמְּחוֺת; Gr מִקְנֵה). 2 drink Isaiah 32:6; Leviticus 11:34; ׳כְּלֵי מ drinking-vessels 1 Kings 10:21 2Chronicles 9:20. 3 = office of butler, butlership Genesis 40:21(E). Topical Lexicon Overview מַשְׁקֶה (mashqeh) moves along two primary lines of usage: a person who puts drink into another’s hand (a cupbearer or royal steward) and a place or substance that gives drink (well-watered land, liquid refreshment). Across the canon it therefore speaks of faithful service, lavish provision, and the life-sustaining grace of God. Usage Categories 1. Personal service: the trusted cupbearer in royal courts. Cupbearers as Royal Attendants A cupbearer held the king’s life in his hands, guarding against poison and delivering refreshment with dignity. The position demanded unimpeachable loyalty and intimate access to sovereign power; thus Scripture often uses the role to highlight divine providence surrounding rulers and their decisions. Joseph and the Egyptian Cupbearer The Genesis narrative devotes ten verses to Pharaoh’s chief cupbearer (Genesis 40:1–41:9). Joseph’s interpretation of the steward’s dream becomes the human avenue by which Joseph himself is remembered before Pharaoh. “He restored the chief cupbearer to his position, so that he once again placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand” (Genesis 40:21). The episode shows God working through palace service to exalt His chosen servant and to preserve the covenant family. Solomon’s Court and the Queen of Sheba When the Queen of Sheba beheld Solomon’s grandeur, “his cupbearers and their attire” (1 Kings 10:5; 2 Chronicles 9:4) were among the spectacles that took her breath away. The term also covers Solomon’s “drinking vessels” (1 Kings 10:21; 2 Chronicles 9:20), all of gold—a visible testimony that wisdom and obedience had ushered in unprecedented prosperity (Deuteronomy 28:1-12 fulfilled in microcosm). Nehemiah: Faithfulness in Exile “At that time I was cupbearer to the king” (Nehemiah 1:11). Nehemiah’s trusted status with Artaxerxes secured the favor and resources needed to rebuild Jerusalem. The verse models how vocational excellence in a secular context becomes an instrument of covenant restoration. Provision of Watered Land Lot “saw that the whole plain of the Jordan was well watered everywhere, like the garden of the LORD” (Genesis 13:10). The same term reappears in Ezekiel’s temple vision: “one sheep from every two hundred from the well-watered pastures of Israel” (Ezekiel 45:15), linking Edenic fertility with eschatological hope. Where God waters, life flourishes; where He withholds, judgment follows (compare Genesis 13 with 19). Purity and the Ceremonial Law Leviticus 11:34 uses the word for “any drink that could be drunk”—subject to contamination by unclean animals. The statute teaches Israel that what enters a person can defile, preparing the way for Christ’s deeper exposition of purity (Mark 7:14-23) without negating the holiness demanded under the old covenant. Social Justice and the Gift of Drink Isaiah condemns those who “withhold drink from the thirsty” (Isaiah 32:6). The same noun that marks royal luxury also measures covenant faithfulness toward the weak. Thus Proverbs 31:6-7 (though employing different vocabulary) resonates with the obligation to refresh both king and pauper under God. Sacrificial Provision from Well-Watered Flocks Ezekiel 45:15 folds מַשְׁקֶה into the economy of worship: lush pasture yields acceptable offerings, reminding Israel that true devotion incorporates God’s material blessings back into His service (cf. Deuteronomy 26:10). Theological and Ministry Implications • Stewardship: Like the cupbearer, every believer stands close to the King, entrusted with life-giving resources (1 Peter 4:10-11). Representative References Genesis 13:10; 40:1-23; 41:9 Forms and Transliterations הַמַּשְׁקִ֔ים הַמַּשְׁקִ֖ים הַמַּשְׁקִ֗ים הַמַּשְׁקִ֛ים הַמַּשְׁקֶ֣ה המשקה המשקים וּמַשְׁקֶ֥ה וּמַשְׁקָ֔יו וּמַשְׁקָיו֙ ומשקה ומשקיו מִמַּשְׁקֵ֣ה מַשְׁקֵ֑הוּ מַשְׁקֵ֥ה מַשְׁקֵ֨ה מַשְׁקֵֽהוּ׃ מַשְׁקֶ֑ה מַשְׁקֶ֖ה מַשְׁקֶה֙ ממשקה משקה משקהו משקהו׃ ham·maš·qeh ham·maš·qîm hammashKeh hammashKim hammašqeh hammašqîm maš·qê·hū maš·qeh maš·qêh mashKeh mashKehu mašqeh mašqêh mašqêhū mim·maš·qêh mimashKeh mimmašqêh ū·maš·qāw ū·maš·qeh umashKav umashKeh ūmašqāw ūmašqehLinks Interlinear Greek • Interlinear Hebrew • Strong's Numbers • Englishman's Greek Concordance • Englishman's Hebrew Concordance • Parallel TextsEnglishman's Concordance Genesis 13:10 HEB: כִּ֥י כֻלָּ֖הּ מַשְׁקֶ֑ה לִפְנֵ֣י ׀ שַׁחֵ֣ת NAS: of the Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere-- KJV: of Jordan, that it [was] well watered every where, before INT: for everywhere well before destroyed Genesis 40:1 Genesis 40:2 Genesis 40:5 Genesis 40:9 Genesis 40:13 Genesis 40:20 Genesis 40:21 Genesis 40:21 Genesis 40:23 Genesis 41:9 Leviticus 11:34 1 Kings 10:5 1 Kings 10:21 2 Chronicles 9:4 2 Chronicles 9:20 Nehemiah 1:11 Isaiah 32:6 Ezekiel 45:15 19 Occurrences |
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