Cupbearer to the king

Nehemiah 1:11-2:6 - I was cupbearer to the king.

In the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was brought for him, I took the wine and gave it to the king. I had not been sad in his presence before; so the king asked me, "Why does your face look so sad when you are not ill? This can be nothing but sadness of heart."

I was very much afraid, but I said to the king, "May the king live forever! Why should my face not look sad when the city where my fathers are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?"

The king said to me, "What is it you want?"

Then I prayed to the God of heaven, and I answered the king, "If it pleases the king and if your servant has found favor in his sight, let him send me to the city in Judah where my fathers are buried so that I can rebuild it."

Then the king, with the queen sitting beside him, asked me, "How long will your journey take, and when will you get back?" It pleased the king to send me; so I set a time.

I think that being cupbearer was a potentially dangerous occupation. If I remember correctly, not only did you bring the wine to the king, but you had to taste it before he did. If anyone was trying to kill the king by poisoning his wine....

That said, being cupbearer seems like a fairly lofty position at the same time. After all, you got to see the king (and queen) up close and in person several times each day. You probably learned a lot about the political situation of the day. If you were good at your job and the king took a fancy to you -- as seems to be the case with Nehemiah -- so much the better for you.

Now, I wonder how you get to be cupbearer. Did Nehemiah volunteer? I would think that the king would consider you expendable -- after all, you could die after any given sip. So being an alien from one of the conquered nations was not unlikely. Yet you would have to be trustworthy too. Artaxerxes seems to have thought highly enough of Nehemiah to want him to remain in his service. When Nehemiah left for Jerusalem, the king would have to appoint a new cupbearer -- or maybe bring in the backup. But he did want Nehemiah to return; he asked him how long he would be gone, and Nehemiah gave him a time.

I wonder if there were other (behind-the-scenes?) duties involved with being cupbearer to the king.