רִיב rîyb — properly, to toss, i.e. grapple
Translated in the KJV as adversary, chide, complain, contend, debate, × ever, × lay wait, plead, rebuke, strive, × thoroughly.
or רוּב; a primitive root; properly, to toss, i.e. grapple; mostly figuratively, to wrangle, i.e. hold a controversy; (by implication) to defend.
rîyb in each stem
Qal (Pa'al)
Imperfect (yiqtol) 23Wayyiqtol 10Imperative 9Perfect (qatal) 6Jussive 6Infinitive construct 6Infinitive absolute 3Participle (active) 2
And the herdmen of Gerar did strive with Isaac’s herdmen, saying, The water is ours: and he called the name of the well Esek; because they strove with him.
And they digged another well, and strove for that also: and he called the name of it Sitnah.
And he removed from thence, and digged another well; and for that they strove not: and he called the name of it Rehoboth; and he said, For now the Lord hath made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.
Hiph'il
Participle (active) 3Wayyiqtol 1
The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces; out of heaven shall he thunder upon them: the Lord shall judge the ends of the earth; and he shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed.
And Saul came to a city of Amalek, and laid wait in the valley.
Yet let no man strive, nor reprove another: for thy people are as they that strive with the priest.
Niph'al
Infinitive construct 1
If I did despise the cause of my manservant or of my maidservant, when they contended with me;
What the stems mean
A Hebrew verb is its root letters set into a pattern. The pattern — the binyan — is the grammar's way of saying three things at once: whether the action is simple, intensive or causative, and whether its subject is active, passive or reflexive. That is why one Hebrew word can need six English ones. All seven binyanim, explained ›