CUPPER
Official who poured the drink into the cup and gave it to the king (Gen. 40:9-14; Neh. 1:11; 2:1, 2).
In the court of an Eastern monarch, this office was one of the highest and demanded the greatest integrity, since there was a danger that the cupbearer would allow himself to be bribed by offering the king poisoned wine (Josephus, Ant. 16:8, 1).
The accession to such a position in the royal court by a foreigner like Nehemiah speaks eloquently of Nehemiah’s moral worth.