קבעת

Forms

קֻבַּעַת (qubbaʿaṯ) noun, feminine^[1][3] Only in the construct, קֻבַּעַת כּוֹס הַתַּרְעֵלָה.^[4][5]

Etymology

HALOT takes it as probably a primary noun, without a verbal root, and gives the cognates Ugaritic qbʿt (“goblet”), parallel with the word for cup, Phoenician qbʿ (“cup”) and Classical Syriac ܩܽܘܒܥܴܐ (qubʿā).^[5][6][7] Akkadian qabūtu (“bowl, cup”) is related.^[5][8][9] BDB instead thought it perhaps a loan from that Assyrian word.^[4] Arabic قُبْعَةٌ (qubʿa) is the cup of a flower, the calyx.^[4][5] Koehler's comparison with Egyptian qbḥw, a libation vessel, is given by HALOT with a question mark.^[5] Klein and Gesenius–Buhl compare the Hebrew words קוֹבַע (qôḇaʿ, “helmet”) and גָּבִיעַ (gāḇîaʿ, “cup”).^[10][7]

HALOT derives Ancient Greek κύμβη (kúmbē) and Ancient Greek κυμβίον (kumbíon) and Latin cymbium from this Semitic word, after Masson.^[5] Beekes calls the Greek word a wandering word for a vessel.^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

It occurs only in Isaiah 51, twice, in the image of the cup of God's wrath: Jerusalem ʾeṯ-qubbaʿaṯ kôs hattarʿēlâ šāṯîṯ māṣîṯ, “has drunk the goblet of the cup of staggering, drained it” (Isaiah 51:17), and God takes it from her hand (51:22).^[1][5]

Semantic evolution

Most commentators read it as “cup, goblet”, and BDB and HALOT take the following כּוֹס as a gloss explaining it, but some give it the sense “dregs”.^[10][4][5] SDBH leaves its shape and size unknown.^[12] The Septuagint has Ancient Greek ποτήριον (potḗrion) and Ancient Greek κόνδυ (kóndu).^[13] The Great Isaiah Scroll has both verses.^[14] Later Hebrew writers used it, after Isaiah, both for a cup and for dregs.^[15]

Timeline

• Biblical Hebrew prophecy – twice in Isaiah 51:17, 22.^[1]
• 3rd–2nd century BC – the Septuagint translates it as ποτήριον and κόνδυ.^[16][13]
• 2nd century BC – 2nd century AD – in the Great Isaiah Scroll and in 4Q176.^[17][14]

Meanings

Noun

1. a goblet, cup;^[5][4] (figurative) of the cup of God's wrath.^[5][4]
2. according to some interpreters, dregs.^[10]

References

1. ^ a b c d Clear Bible (2023–), MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets (Westminster Leningrad Codex, with Greek alignment), github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-hebrew, CC BY 4.0
2. ^ Eep Talstra Centre for Bible and Computer (2021), BHSA: Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia Amstelodamensis, Text-Fabric dataset, version 2021, github.com/ETCBC/bhsa
3. ^ Brown, Francis; Driver, S. R.; Briggs, Charles A. (1906), A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament, with an Appendix Containing the Biblical Aramaic, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e f Brown, Francis; Driver, S. R.; Briggs, Charles A. (1906), A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament, with an Appendix Containing the Biblical Aramaic, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. קֻבַּעַת
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Koehler, Ludwig; Baumgartner, Walter; Stamm, Johann Jakob (1994–2000), The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, transl. and ed. M. E. J. Richardson, 5 vols, Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. קֻבַּעַת
6. ^ del Olmo Lete, Gregorio; Sanmartín, Joaquín (2015), A Dictionary of the Ugaritic Language in the Alphabetic Tradition, 3rd ed., transl. W. G. E. Watson, Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. qbʕt
7. ^ a b Gesenius, Wilhelm; Buhl, Frants (1915), Hebräisches und aramäisches Handwörterbuch über das Alte Testament, 17th ed., Leipzig: F. C. W. Vogel, p. s.v. קֻבַּעַת
8. ^ Gelb, Ignace J., et al., eds. (1956–2010), The Assyrian Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, 21 vols, Chicago: Oriental Institute, p. Q 43
9. ^ von Soden, Wolfram (1965–1981), Akkadisches Handwörterbuch, 3 vols, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, p. 890
10. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest (1987), A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Hebrew Language for Readers of English, Jerusalem: Carta; Haifa: University of Haifa, p. s.v. קֻבַּעַת
11. ^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill, p. s.v. κύμβη
12. ^ de Blois, Reinier, ed. (2000–), Semantic Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew, United Bible Societies, sdbh.org, p. s.v. קֻבַּעַת
13. ^ a b Tov, Emanuel; Kraft, Robert A. (1987), CATSS Parallel Aligned Hebrew and Greek Texts of Jewish Scripture, Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania (Oxford Text Archive 1111)
14. ^ a b Abegg, Martin G.; Jacobs, Jarod; Roorda, Dirk (2022), The Dead Sea Scrolls, Text-Fabric dataset, version 2.0.2, github.com/ETCBC/dss
15. ^ Ben-Yehuda, Eliezer (1908–1959), Millon ha-lashon ha-ʿivrit ha-yeshanah ve-ha-ḥadashah / Thesaurus totius hebraitatis, 16 vols, Jerusalem; typed edition, Project Ben-Yehuda (benyehuda.org), p. s.v. קֻבַּעַת
16. ^ Sáenz-Badillos, Angel (1993), A History of the Hebrew Language, transl. John Elwolde, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 93
17. ^ Sáenz-Badillos, Angel (1993), A History of the Hebrew Language, transl. John Elwolde, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 143