Tumbling cup
Tumbler cup or tumbler cup ( Hebrew כֹּוס הַתַּרְעֵלָה kôs hattar'elāh , in the Luther translation of 1545 also thumb goblet ) refers to a beaker in the Bible that is filled with anesthetizing drink and symbolizes the wrath of God or the divine judgment. This cup is the opposite of the cup of salvation .
In Isaiah 51, 17.22, the chalice is offered to Jerusalem and the inhabitants of the city by the hand of God.
Shortly before the crucifixion, Jesus of Nazareth , in his prayer in the garden of Gethsemane, asks God the Father to let “this cup” pass by him (cf. Mk 14.36 EU and Lk 22.42 EU ). In connection with the above passage in Isaiah, this is an indication of the role of Jesus as an innocent victim himself , who takes the anger of the Father on behalf of sinful humanity.
Three months before his execution, Dietrich Bonhoeffer describes the divine "tumbler" in a poem with the words:
- And do you (God) give us the heavy cup, which is bitter
- filled to the brim with sorrow,
- so we gratefully accept it without trembling
- from your good and beloved hand.
He wrote this on New Year's Eve 1944/1945.
Today's saying “May this cup pass me by”, with which the wish is formulated that an impending difficult situation may not arise, goes back to the tumbling cup.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Biblia. This is the entire Holy Scripture Deudsch zugericht by Martin Luther, MDXLV, 1545
- ↑ z. B. also in the relatively new Zurich Bible from 1987
- ^ Reference: Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Resistance and Surrender. Letters and notes from prison. ISBN 3-579-07119-X