Poterion denotes a drinking vessel, and in recurring figurative contexts the cup drunk, received, or given.

The term most often identifies a tangible vessel used for drinking, washing, serving water, or holding contents. It also occurs in clauses where drinking or receiving the cup frames an appointed experience, in shared covenantal eating and drinking, and in images of wrath.

1. A tangible drinking or washing vessel · dominant

   In Mark 14:23 the accusative singular occurs when a vessel is taken, thanked for, and given so that all drink from it; Luke 22:17 likewise places it in an act of receiving, thanksgiving, and division. Mark 7:4 names plural vessels among items subject to washings, while Matthew 23:25 and Matthew 23:26 contrast the outside and inside of a vessel being cleaned.

   Mark 14:23Luke 22:17Mark 7:4Matthew 23:25Matthew 23:26Matthew 10:42
2. The cup as an experience to be drunk · common

   In Mark 10:38 and Mark 10:39, drinking the cup is paired with undergoing a baptism; the APB renders the question, “Are you able to drink the cup that I drink.” In Matthew 26:39 and John 18:11, the cup is respectively asked to pass and described as given by the Father, placing it within prayer and obedience rather than an ordinary drinking scene.

   Mark 10:38Mark 10:39Matthew 20:22Matthew 26:39Mark 14:36John 18:11
3. The shared cup in covenantal remembrance · common

   In 1 Corinthians 11:25 the accusative singular stands in the saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood,” and the following verses speak of drinking it with bread. In 1 Corinthians 10:16 and 1 Corinthians 10:21, the APB places the cup in contrasted participation: the cup of blessing and the cup of the Lord stand over against the cup of demons.

   1 Corinthians 10:161 Corinthians 10:211 Corinthians 11:251 Corinthians 11:261 Corinthians 11:27Luke 22:20
4. A cup holding wrath or recompense · occasional

   Revelation 14:10 locates undiluted wine of God's wrath in the cup of his wrath, and Revelation 16:19 describes giving Babylon a cup of the wine of wrath. Revelation 18:6 uses the dative singular in the instruction to mix double in the cup that she mixed.

   Revelation 14:10Revelation 16:19Revelation 18:6

In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB regularly presents the term with “cup,” whether a vessel is taken, cleaned, or filled, or whether drinking and receiving frame an experience. Its wording is treated as confirmation of each verse’s clause rather than as a separate definition.