Properly, to toss , i.e. grapple ; mostly figuratively, to wrangle , i.e. hold a controversy ; (by implication) to defend
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H7378, riv, is a Hebrew verb for contending, quarreling, disputing, accusing, defending, or pleading a case. Herdsmen quarrel over wells, people contend with Moses over water, injured parties appear within laws governing violent disputes, prophets stage covenant cases, worshipers ask God to plead their cause, and the LORD takes up the case of widows, captives, and people who are robbed.
Reader summary
Full entry for רִיב (H7378) · Open the biblical lexicon
H7378, riv, is a Hebrew verb for contending, quarreling, disputing, accusing, defending, or pleading a case. Herdsmen quarrel over wells, people contend with Moses over water, injured parties appear within laws governing violent disputes, prophets stage covenant cases, worshipers ask God to plead their cause, and the LORD takes up the case of widows.
The BSB source-word alignment has 66 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include contend (4), quarreled (3), . . . (2), and plead (2), defend (2).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 26:20. Its strongest book concentrations include Isaiah (8), Judges (8), Jeremiah (7), Job (7).
H7378, riv, is a Hebrew verb for contending, quarreling, disputing, accusing, defending, or pleading a case. Herdsmen quarrel over wells, people contend with Moses over water, injured parties appear within laws governing violent disputes, prophets stage covenant cases, worshipers ask God to plead their cause, and the Lord takes up the case of widows, captives, and people who are robbed. The verb can name destructive conflict, legitimate complaint, formal controversy, advocacy, divine judgment, or a legal defense. The fact that someone contends does not establish whether the claim is true or the method just.
Several passages make advocacy central. Isaiah commands God's people to seek justice, correct oppression, defend the fatherless, and plead the widow's case. Proverbs says the Lord takes up the case of people robbed because they are poor. Jeremiah declares that Israel's strong Redeemer will plead the captives' case, and Lamentations thanks the Lord for defending a life. These uses challenge systems in which only powerful parties can afford a hearing. Contention can be a faithful act when it brings a silenced grievance into a truthful forum and seeks protection or repair.
Other passages restrain conflict. Proverbs forbids accusing a person without cause when no harm has been done. Isaac moves from contested wells until a space opens without quarrel. David asks the Lord to judge his case against Saul rather than killing the king in the cave. Jeremiah can bring a hard question about injustice before the righteous Lord, showing that lamented dispute with God remains prayer. Pastoral use should neither idolize harmony nor celebrate endless combat. It should distinguish avoidable quarrels, safety-driven withdrawal, legitimate advocacy, institutional complaint, covenant lament, and final divine judgment.
H7378 moves from quarrels over land and water through violent dispute, accusation, advocacy, covenant lawsuit, lament before God, defense of vulnerable people, and the Lord's action as judge and Redeemer.
But the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen and said, “The water is ours!” So he named the well Esek, because they contended with him.
Scarce water and rival claims produce a named controversy. Isaac's household does not win by escalation; the narrative tracks repeated movement until a well is uncontested.
He moved on from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. He named it Rehoboth and said, “At last the Lord has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land.”
The absence of quarrel marks room for life and fruitfulness after multiple losses. Moving on is prudent here but cannot become a rule that vulnerable people must surrender every rightful claim.
If men are quarreling and one strikes the other with a stone or a fist, and he does not die but is confined to bed,
The law recognizes that quarrels can become bodily harm and assigns concrete responsibility in the following verse. Anger does not erase liability for injury and lost time.
May the Lord be our judge and decide between you and me. May He take notice and plead my case and deliver me from your hand.”
David refuses an immediate opportunity to kill Saul and appeals for divine judgment and deliverance. Entrusting the case to God includes speaking the evidence and seeking safety, not returning to Saul's reach.
Learn to do right; seek justice and correct the oppressor. Defend the fatherless and plead the case of the widow.”
Covenant worship requires active justice and advocacy for people exposed to exploitation. Pleading a case is a public duty, not private charity detached from correcting oppression.
The Lord arises to contend; He stands to judge the people.
The Lord enters the controversy as judge, and the next verses charge leaders with crushing the poor. Divine contention exposes abuses hidden by status and office.
Indeed, this is what the Lord says: “Even the captives of the mighty will be taken away, and the plunder of the tyrant will be retrieved; I will contend with those who contend with you, and I will save your children.
God's contention answers tyrannical captivity and the threat to children. The promise belongs to Zion's restoration and must not be weaponized for private retaliation.
The One who vindicates Me is near. Who will dare to contend with Me? Let us confront each other! Who has a case against Me? Let him approach Me!
The servant faces accusers with confidence in a nearby vindicator. The legal challenge rests on God's verdict, not intimidation or immunity from examination.
Righteous are You, O Lord, when I plead before You. Yet about Your judgments I wish to contend with You: Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the faithless live at ease?
Jeremiah affirms God's righteousness while bringing a difficult question about observed injustice. Contention becomes faithful lament rather than a denial that God is judge.
Their Redeemer is strong; the Lord of Hosts is His name. He will fervently plead their case so that He may bring rest to the earth, but turmoil to those who live in Babylon.
The Lord acts as Redeemer and advocate for exiles against imperial Babylon. The oracle addresses a historical oppressor and cannot justify hostility toward present peoples.
You defend my cause, O Lord; You redeem my life.
The lament remembers the Lord taking up the speaker's case and redeeming life from the pit. Legal defense and rescue meet inside sustained grief.
And after serious thought I rebuked the nobles and officials, saying, “You are exacting usury from your own brothers!” So I called a large assembly against them
Nehemiah thinks seriously, identifies an economic practice, confronts powerful officials, and brings the issue before an assembly. Advocacy leads to restitution rather than a merely verbal victory.
Do not accuse a man without cause, when he has done you no harm.
Contention requires a cause and actual harm. The proverb condemns manufactured accusations without silencing documented complaints or preventive safeguarding.
For the Lord will take up their case and will plunder those who rob them.
The Lord advocates for poor people targeted because of vulnerability. Divine defense warns gatekeepers and creditors that social weakness does not mean absence of a powerful advocate.
Vindicate me, O God, and plead my case against an ungodly nation; deliver me from deceitful and unjust men.
The psalm seeks both a favorable judgment and deliverance from deceitful actors. Prayer for vindication names danger without granting the worshiper permission for private revenge.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Hebrew word. Escalation from physical grappling to legal/verbal dispute; often frames God's covenant lawsuit against Israel's unfaithfulness
Escalation from physical grappling to legal/verbal dispute; often frames God's covenant lawsuit against Israel's unfaithfulness
properly, to toss, i.e. grapple; mostly figuratively, to wrangle, i.e. hold a controversy; (by implication) to defend BDB: strive Usage: adversary, chide, complain, contend, debate, × ever, × lay wait, plead, rebuke, strive, × thoroughly.
How the stem changes the meaning of this verb across the biblical text.
This verb appears through different tense, voice, mood, or stem patterns. Those forms help readers see how the action is presented in context.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 4 selected witnesses from 70 lexical occurrence verses.
רִיב is a primitive root - no further derivation.
Nehemiah’s contention reflects covenant defense rather than personal hostility.Hosea 2:2-13
It frames the passage as a formal covenant lawsuit, not mere emotional complaint.Micah 6:1-5
Signals formal covenant lawsuit structure.Nehemiah 13:23-31
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
H7378 gives conflict a legal and covenant vocabulary. Herdsmen quarrel over life-sustaining wells, Torah assigns responsibility when a dispute becomes violent, and Proverbs forbids accusation without cause. Yet Scripture does not make absence of conflict the highest good. Isaiah commands God's people to plead the widow's case, Nehemiah confronts elite creditors after serious thought, and the Lord promises to contend for captives and take up the cause of people robbed because they are poor.
Jeremiah even contends with God about the prosperity of the wicked while confessing God's righteousness. Faithful communities therefore create safe forums where grievances can be heard, advocates can assist people with less power, allegations can be tested, and remedies can include protection and restitution. They also recognize when moving away from a fruitless quarrel creates room for life.
Peace without justice silences; contention without truth consumes.
Isa.1.17
H7378 is a Qal verb whose contextual renderings include quarrel, contend, dispute, accuse, plead, defend, argue, and take up a case. Legal and relational senses overlap, but the subject and object determine whether the verb describes destructive strife, formal advocacy, covenant litigation, or divine defense. The public artifact count exceeds the direct BSB denominator by four tokens, so this study follows the 66 governed rows.
Jesus blesses peacemakers while confronting exploitation and receiving unjust accusation. The apostles use courts, testimony, appeals, church discipline, and advocacy within different jurisdictions. Romans reserves vengeance for God while recognizing public authority, so Christian non-retaliation does not erase complaint, protection, evidence, or the state's responsibility to address harm.