During Biblical times, a young man who wanted to marry would accompany his father to the chosen woman’s house, where she and her father would be present. They’d negotiate a steep “bride price”%u2014the money or physical items that the woman’s father would ask for in exchange for giving up his valuable daughter.
Then the young man’s father would hand his son a cup of wine. The son, in turn, would offer it to the women and say, “This cup I offer to you.” In effect, he was saying, “I love you, and I offer you my life. Will you marry me?” If she drank it (sealing their engagement), she accepted his life and gave him hers. If not, she simply declined.