CUPBEARER (מַשְׁקֶה֒, H5482, one who gives drink; LXX οἰνοχόος, cupbearer). An important official who served wine to the king. Due to the ever present possibility of intrigue, the position was one of great responsibility and trust. The officer’s chief responsibility was to guard the king’s person. The first mention of a cupbearer is in the Joseph story (Gen 40:1), but KJV and RSV tr. “butler.” The man is there designated “chief butler” (40:2) which indicates that several held this position under one chief. Nehemiah is cupbearer to the Persian king Artaxerxes Longimanus (Neh 1:11). Cupbearers are among the officers of Solomon (1 Kings 10:5; 2 Chron 9:4). The nature of this office allowed intimate contact with the king and queen. Whether the official was also a eunuch is debatable. In LXX B Nehemiah is described as “eunuch” instead of “cupbearer.” Persian reliefs picture the high position of the cupbearer and indicate he was prob. a eunuch, at least from the time of Xerxes. The Rabshakeh of Sennacherib (2 Kings 18:17) may also have been his cupbearer. See [http://biblegateway/wiki/Butler or Cupbearer BUTLER].

Bibliography R. A. Bowman, Exegesis of Nehemiah, IB, III (1954), 670, 671; J. M. Myers, Ezra-Nehemiah, Anchor Bible (1965), 93, 96.