StrongerBible

gevi'a

גָּבִיעַ

HebrewH1375cup, bowl

Appears 14 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Gen 44:2 (2×)Gen 44:12Gen 44:16Gen 44:17Exo 25:31Exo 25:33 (2×)Exo 25:34Exo 37:17Exo 37:19 (2×)Exo 37:20Jer 35:5
Word studygah-VEE-ahnoun

What gevi'a means

a cup or bowl: a rounded open vessel for drinking or serving, and by extension the cup-shaped ornaments of the golden lampstand

TranslatabilityApproximateCertaintyStrong

At its core this word names a physical cup or bowl. It is Joseph's silver cup, hidden in Benjamin's sack and then found there (Genesis 44), and it is the wine vessels set before the Rechabites in Jeremiah 35:5.

The same word names the cup-shaped ornaments on the golden lampstand described in Exodus 25 and 37. The text says these were "made like almond blossoms," each set with a knob and a flower. They are called cups because they had the shape of an open blossom-cup, not because anyone drank from them.

So one word covers both an everyday vessel and a decorative form modeled on its shape. Where size is in view it leans toward a larger bowl or goblet: in Jeremiah 35:5 it stands beside the ordinary drinking cup (כּוֹס), this word naming the serving bowls and כּוֹס the cups poured from them.

Nuances

1aa drinking or serving vessel: a cup, goblet, or bowl
TranslatabilityDirect
Gen 44:2 (2×)Gen 44:12Gen 44:16Gen 44:17Jer 35:5
1bone of the cup-shaped ornaments on the golden lampstand, shaped like almond blossoms
Exo 25:31Exo 25:33 (2×)Exo 25:34Exo 37:17Exo 37:19 (2×)Exo 37:20

What scholars say about gevi'a

The standard lexicons (BDB, HALOT) treat גָּבִיעַ as a single noun meaning "cup, bowl," attested both for an actual drinking or serving vessel (Genesis 44; Jeremiah 35:5) and for the calyx-shaped ornaments of the menorah (Exodus 25; 37). Its etymology is uncertain and may reflect a loanword; the lexica do not derive it from a productive Hebrew root. In Exodus the term is qualified as מְשֻׁקָּדִים, "made like almond blossoms," which fixes the ornamental use as a botanical cup or calyx rather than a separate homonym.

Sources

  • BDB, s.v. גָּבִיעַlexicon
  • HALOT, s.v. גָּבִיעַlexicon
  • William H. C. Propp, Exodus 19–40 (Anchor Yale Bible, 2006)commentary

All attested forms of גָּבִיעַ

m p absolute

גְּבִעִים

Exo 25:33, Exo 25:33, Exo 25:34, Exo 37:19, Exo 37:19, Exo 37:20, Jer 35:5

m s absolute

גָּבִיעַ

Gen 44:12, Gen 44:16, Gen 44:17

m p construct

גְּבִיעֶיהָ

Exo 25:31, Exo 37:17

m s construct

גְּבִיעַ

Gen 44:2

m s construct

גְּבִיעִי

Gen 44:2