Description and usage
The cup was an implement used for drinking. Common cups were made of earthenware, sometimes fired and glazed. By New Testament times, cups made of glass were common. Richer people often used cups made of bronze, silver, or gold. A cup could be cylindrical, similar to a modern cup, or it could be more the half-globe shape of a bowl. In either of these forms, it might have one or two handles or no handles at all.
Translation
Several of the words listed above could equally well be translated “cup” or “bowl,” and this is reflected in the translations. Some translations say “drinking bowl.” However, a generic word for “cup” will be a close enough equivalent in most languages.
In GEN 44:0 the Hebrew word gavi‘a refers to a special cup, one that is explicitly said to be made of silver. In some cultures it will be necessary to choose a word that does not indicate a drinking vessel made of another substance, such as a gourd, or a cup made of wood or clay.
MAT 10:42; MRK 9:41: In place of the literal expression “cup of water” in MRK 9:41 (in which “cup” not only identifies the container but also indicates the quantity of water), some languages use the expression “water in a cup.” But it is even more likely that the typical equivalent of “cup of water” would be “drink of water” (GNT). In some parts of the world, the expression “cup of water” suggests something rather strange and foreign, so some translators might find that an expression like “gourd of water” would not only be more natural, but would also be the semantic equivalent of “drink of water.”
1MA 11:58 and 1ES 3:6 say literally “drink from golden.” The meaning is clearly “drink from golden cups” or “…golden vessels.”