Boyd’s Bible Dictionary:
(bottler). Officer of a royal household in charge of the wines and drinking vessels (Gen. 40:1-13; 41:9); “cup-bearer” (Neh. 1:11; 1 Kings 10:5).
Concise Bible Dictionary:
An officer of great importance in Oriental courts: he presented the drinking cup to the king (Gen. 40:1-23). Nehemiah held the office at Shushan, and was highly esteemed by the king (Neh. 2:1).
From Manners and Customs of the Bible:
Nehemiah 1:11. For I was the King’s cupbearer.
The office of royal cup-bearer or butler is of high antiquity, and was a place great honor in the Persian court. The cup-bearer, being in the daily presence of the king, and seeing him at his seasons of relaxation from care, had many opportunities of ingratiating himself into the goodwill of the monarch, and thus doubtless obtained many favors which were denied others. Cup-bearers were generally eunuchs, and are often found represented on Assyrian monuments. In these representations they hold the cup in the left hand, and in the right hand a fly-flap made of the split leaves of the palm. A long napkin, richly embroidered and fringed, is thrown over the left shoulder for the king to wipe his lips with. Among the Medes and Persians the cup-bearer, before serving the king, took the wine into the cup from the vessels, and then poured a little into the palm of his left hand and drank it; so that if the wine were poisoned the king might ascertain it without running any personal risk. Pharaoh had cup-bearers to attend him (Gen. 40:2). Solomon also had them (1 Kings 10:5; 2 Chron. 9:4).
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