Psalms 75:8 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Psalms 75:8
For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup, and the wine is red; it is full of mixture; and he poureth out of the same: but the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them.
properly · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
full
מָ֥לֵאMa.le'
H4392
full (literally or figuratively) or filling (literally) · adjective, masculine singular absolute
mixture
מֶסֶךְ֮me.seKh
H4538
a mixture · noun, common masculine singular absolute
out
וַיַּגֵּ֪רvai.ya.Ger
H5064
to flow · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
same
מִ֫זֶּ֥הmi.Zeh
H2088
the masculine demonstrative pronoun · preposition + demonstrative particle
dregs
שְׁ֭מָרֶיהָShe.ma.rei.ha
H8105
something preserved · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person feminine singular
wicked
רִשְׁעֵיrish.'ei-
H7563
morally wrong · noun, common masculine plural construct
earth
אָֽרֶץ'A.retz
H776
the earth (at large · noun, common feminine singular absolute
out
יִמְצ֣וּyim.Tzu
H4680
to suck out · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
drink
יִשְׁתּ֑וּyish.Tu
H8354
to imbibe (literally or figuratively) · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Job 21:20 His eyes shall see his destruction, and he shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
Jeremiah 25:15 For thus saith the LORD God of Israel unto me; Take the wine cup of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send thee, to…
Psalms 11:6 Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup.
Revelation 16:19 And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to gi…
Revelation 14:9-10 And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehea…
Jeremiah 25:17 Then took I the cup at the LORD’s hand, and made all the nations to drink, unto whom the LORD had sent me:
Psalms 60:3 Thou hast shewed thy people hard things: thou hast made us to drink the wine of astonishment.
Isaiah 5:22 Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink:
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Psalms 75:6–end
In these verses we have two great doctrines laid down and two good inferences drawn from them, for the confirmation of what he had before said.
I. Here are two great truths laid down concerning God's government of the world, which we ought to mix faith with, both pertinent to the occasion: -
1. That from God alone kings receive their power (Psa 75:6, Psa 75:7), and therefore to God alone David would give the praise of his advancement; having his power from God he would use it for him, and therefore those were fools that lifted up the horn against him. We see strange revolutions in states and kingdoms, and are surprised at the sudden disgrace of some and elevation of others; we are all full…
For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup,.... Another reason why men should not act haughtily and arrogantly; for by the cup are meant afflictions, calamities, and judgments, which are measured out in proportion to men's sins, and are of God's appointing, and in his hands, and at his disposal
and the wine is red; an emblem of the wrath of God this cup is full of, as it is explained, Revelation 14:10, where there is a reference to this passage; for it is a cup of fury, of trembling, and of indignation: Isaiah 51:17,
it is full of mixture; has many ingredients in it, dreadful and shocking ones, though it is sometimes said to be without mixture, Revelation 14:10, without any allay, alluding…
Psalm 75:8-10
8. For in the hand of Jehovah there is a cup, and the wine is turbid, [or full of dregs: [260] ] it is full of mixture, and he shall pour forth of it: surely they shall wring out the dregs of it, and all the wicked of the earth shall drink of it. 9. But I will publish for ever, and will sing praise to the God of Jacob. 10. And I will break all the horns of the wicked: but the horns of the righteous shall be exalted.
8. For in the hand of Jehovah there is a cup. [261] The Psalmist here applies more directly to the use of the godly that judgment of which he has just now spoken. He affirms, that the object for which God reigns is, that no iniquity may remain unpunished; but that…
The Church Fathers
The cup of the Lord is at any rate "filled with mixed wine." Although it is constantly drunk, nonetheless it is never fully drained. But when he says "mixed wine," he is pointing to the New and Old Testaments, which make a salvific drink for souls when both are mixed. The Jews drink wine only, but not mixed wine, because they do not want to receive the health of the New Testament. The Manichaeans also do not drink mixed wine because they partly accept the New Testament but spit out the sacraments of the old law in rash boldness. He added, "And he tips it from this to this." This absolutely refers to the two peoples, namely the Jews and the Gentiles, because he took the cup from the mouth of the Jews who did not believe and tipped it for the Gentiles nations to drink instead. It is a blessed and secure refreshment to receive the cup of salvation from him, who always knows how to offer beneficial things. This manner of speaking is peculiar to sacred Scripture, since it is scarcely able to be found in secular writings (or at least as I think).
"For the cup in the hand of the Lord of pure wine is full of mixed" [Psalm 75:8]. Justly so. "And He has poured out of this upon this man; nevertheless, the dreg thereof has not been emptied; there shall drink all the sinners of earth." Let us be somewhat recruited; there is here some obscurity....The first question that meets us is this, "of pure wine it is full of mixed." How "of pure," if "of mixed"? But when he says, "the cup in the hand of the Lord" (to men instructed in the Church of Christ I am speaking), you ought not indeed to paint in your heart God as it were circumscribed with a human form, lest, though the temples are shut up, you forge images in your hearts. This cup therefore does signify something. We will find out this. But "in the hand of the Lord," is, in the power of the Lord. For the hand of God is spoken of for the power of God. For even in reference to men ofttimes is said, in hand he has it: that is, in his power he has it, when he chooses he does it. "Of pure wine it is full of mixed." In continuation he has himself explained: "He has inclined," he says, "from this unto this man; nevertheless the dreg thereof has not been emptied." Behold how it was full of mixed wine. Let it not therefore terrify you that it is both pure and mixed: pure because of the genuineness thereof, mixed because of the dreg. What then in that place is the wine, and what the dreg? And what is, "He has inclined from this unto this man," in such sort that the dreg thereof was not emptied?
Dictionary and topics
Cup — A wine-cup (Gen. 40:11, 21), various forms of which are found on Assyrian and Egyptian monuments. All Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold (1 Kings 10: 21). The cups mentioned in the New Testament…
Dregs — (Ps. 75:8; Isa. 51:17, 22), the lees of wine which settle at the bottom of the vessel.
Lees — (Heb. shemarim), from a word meaning to keep or preserve. It was applied to “lees” from the custom of allowing wine to stand on the lees that it might thereby be better preserved (Isa. 25:6). “Men…
Wine — The common Hebrew word for wine is yayin, from a root meaning “to boil up,” “to be in a ferment.” Others derive it from a root meaning “to tread out,” and hence the juice of the grape trodden out.…
Cup · .Of — .Of
Drunkenness · FIGURATIVE — FIGURATIVE
Lees · Settlings of wine — Settlings of wine
Titles And Names Of The Wicked · Wicked of the earth — Wicked of the earth
Wine · Illustrative: Of the wrath and judgments of God — Illustrative: Of the wrath and judgments of God
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
The church here takes up the words of God, again beginning with the כּי of Psa 75:3 (cf. the כּי in Sa1 2:3). A passage of the Midrash says הרים חוץ מזה כל הרים שׁבמקרא (everywhere where harim is found in Scripture it signifies harim, mountains, with the exception of this passage), and accordingly it is explained by Rashi, Kimchi, Alshch, and others, that man, whithersoever he may turn, cannot by strength and skill attain great exaltation and prosperity.
(Note: E.g., Bamidbar Rabba ch. xxii.; whereas according to Berêshı̂th Rabba ch. lii. הרים is equivalent to דּרום.)
Thus it is according to the reading ממּדבּר, although Kimchi maintains that it can also be so explained with the reading ממּ…
The Lord alone is the Judge, with the power to exalt and humble (see 1 Sam 2:7; Luke 1:52).
Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 75:8
For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup, and the wine is red; it is full of mixture; and he poureth out of the same: but the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them.
For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup. The punishment of the wicked is prepared, God himself holds it in readiness; he has collected and concocted woes most dread, and in the chalice of his wrath he holds it. They scoffed his feast of love; they shall be dragged to his table of justice, and made to drink their due deserts. And the wine is red. The retribution is terrible, it is blood for blood, foaming vengeance for foaming malice. The very colour of divine wrath is terrible; what…
