H7378 — רִיב (riyb)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: H7378
Original: רִיב
Transliteration: riyb
Pronunciation: reeb
Part of Speech: Verb (primitive root)
Root: רִיב — properly to toss, grapple; figuratively to wrangle, hold a controversy, defend
Occurrences: 59 unique verses (79 tokens) across 16 books
First Occurrence: Gen 26:20 — "And the herdmen of Gerar did strive with Isaac's herdmen, saying, The water is ours"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

Or רוּב ruwb; a primitive root; properly, to toss, i.e. grapple; mostly figuratively, to wrangle, i.e. hold a controversy; (by implication) to defend: — adversary, chide, complain, contend, debate, ever, lay wait, plead, rebuke, strive, thoroughly.

Verb Stem Distribution¶

Stem	Count	Typical Meaning
Qal	~65	contend, strive, plead, chide — full semantic range
Hiphil	2	causative: those who contend (1 Sam 2:10 "adversaries of the LORD"; Hos 4:4 "those who strive with the priest")

The verb is overwhelmingly Qal (~97%). Hiphil appears only in participial forms describing habitual contenders/adversaries.

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Count	%
plead / will plead / hath pleaded	~19	32%
contend / will contend / contended	~11	19%
strive / strove / did strive	~9	15%
chide / chode / did chide	~6	10%
adversaries	1	2%
complain	1	2%
debate	1	2%
rebuke	1	2%
laid wait	1	2%
Other (fragments, partial phrases)	~9	15%

The dominant KJV rendering "plead" (32%) reflects the forensic/legal sense. "Contend" and "strive" together account for 34%, covering both legal and interpersonal conflict.

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Micah	2	1.9
Hosea	2	1.0
Nehemiah	4	1.0
Judges	5	0.8
Job	8	0.7
Amos	1	0.7
Isaiah	8	0.6
Lamentations	1	0.6
Proverbs	5	0.5
1 Samuel	4	0.5
Jeremiah	5	0.4
Genesis	4	0.3
Numbers	2	0.2
Exodus	2	0.2
Psalms	5	0.2
Deuteronomy	1	0.1

Highest density in Micah and Hosea (prophetic covenant lawsuit genre). Job and Isaiah tied for highest raw count (8 each). Concentrated in prophetic and wisdom literature; absent from historical books after Nehemiah. Nehemiah uses it distinctively for administrative confrontation.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Divine Covenant Lawsuit (God as Plaintiff)¶

God contends with His people over covenant violations — the prophetic riyb pattern. - Jer 2:9 — "Wherefore I will yet plead with you, saith the LORD, and with your children's children will I plead" - Hos 2:2 — "Plead with your mother, plead: for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband" - Mic 6:1 — "Arise, contend thou before the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice" - Isa 3:13 — "The LORD standeth up to plead, and standeth to judge the people"

2. God as Advocate / Defender (Pleading for the Vulnerable)¶

God contends on behalf of His people or the oppressed — the redemptive riyb. - Jer 50:34 — "Their Redeemer is strong; the LORD of hosts is his name: he shall throughly plead their cause" - Lam 3:58 — "O Lord, thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul; thou hast redeemed my life" - Pro 22:23 — "For the LORD will plead their cause, and spoil the soul of those that spoiled them" - Isa 49:25 — "I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children"

3. Petition for God to Plead (Psalmist's Appeal)¶

The worshiper asks God to take up their legal case. - Psa 35:1 — "Plead my cause, O LORD, with them that strive with me: fight against them that fight against me" - Psa 43:1 — "Judge me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation" - Psa 119:154 — "Plead my cause, and deliver me: quicken me according to thy word" - Psa 74:22 — "Arise, O God, plead thine own cause: remember how the foolish man reproacheth thee daily"

4. Interpersonal Strife / Quarrel¶

Physical or verbal conflict between people over tangible disputes. - Gen 26:20 — "And the herdmen of Gerar did strive with Isaac's herdmen, saying, The water is ours" - Exo 21:18 — "And if men strive together, and one smite another with a stone" - Gen 31:36 — "And Jacob was wroth, and chode with Laban" - Num 20:3 — "And the people chode with Moses"

5. Administrative Confrontation (Nehemiah's Usage)¶

Nehemiah confronts officials and violators with authoritative rebuke. - Neh 5:7 — "Then I consulted with myself, and I rebuked the nobles, and the rulers" - Neh 13:11 — "Then contended I with the rulers, and said, Why is the house of God forsaken?" - Neh 13:17 — "Then I contended with the nobles of Judah" - Neh 13:25 — "And I contended with them, and cursed them, and smote certain of them"

6. Contending with God / The Almighty¶

Humans who dispute, argue, or bring complaint against God. - Job 9:3 — "If he will contend with him, he cannot answer him one of a thousand" - Job 10:2 — "I will say unto God, Do not condemn me; shew me wherefore thou contendest with me" - Job 40:2 — "Shall he that contendeth with the Almighty instruct him?" - Isa 45:9 — "Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker!"

7. Wisdom Counsel on Strife¶

Proverbial instruction about when and whether to contend. - Pro 3:30 — "Strive not with a man without cause, if he have done thee no harm" - Pro 25:8 — "Go not forth hastily to strive, lest thou know not what to do in the end thereof" - Pro 25:9 — "Debate thy cause with thy neighbour himself; and discover not a secret to another"

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
יְהֹוָה (Yehovah)	H3068	19× (32%)	YHWH as subject who pleads, or object of Israel's contention
רִיב (riyb noun)	H7379	12× (20%)	Cognate accusative "plead a riyb" — verb + noun pair for legal case
אִישׁ (iysh)	H376	9× (15%)	"Strive not with a man" — interpersonal strife warnings
מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat)	H4941	5× (8%)	Legal parallel: contention + judgment
עַם (am)	H5971	5× (8%)	"People contend" — communal disputes
גָּאַל (gaal)	H1350	4× (7%)	"Redeemer pleads cause" — redemptive defense pairing

Word Family / Cognates¶

H7379 רִיב (riyb) — noun: lawsuit, cause, contention, controversy (62v); the noun counterpart
H4808 מְרִיבָה (meribah) — noun: strife, contention; also place name Meribah (7v)

Synonyms (from SDBH)¶

Word	Strong's	Relationship
דִּין (diyn)	H1777	to judge, contend; more judicial/formal than riyb
שָׁפַט (shaphat)	H8199	to judge, pronounce sentence; broader — riyb is specifically the advocacy/pleading phase
גָּרָה (garah)	H1624	to stir up strife, provoke; focuses on instigation rather than the dispute itself
נָצָה (natsah)	H5327	to go forth, strive; physical quarrel emphasis

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
שָׁפַט (shaphat)	H8199	"plead" (3v)	shaphat = render verdict; riyb = bring/argue the case
דִּין (diyn)	H1777	"contend," "strive" (1v each)	diyn = formal adjudication; riyb = the disputation process itself
גָּרָה (garah)	H1624	"contend" (2v)	garah = provoke to conflict; riyb = engage in the conflict
נָצָה (natsah)	H5327	"strive" (2v)	natsah = physical brawling; riyb = verbal/legal contention

Semantic Domain¶

Conflict — co-listed with ʼayab H340/341, garah H1624
Chastise — overlapping disciplinary/rebuking usage
Enemies — H3401/3402 yariyb "adversary" derived from same root

LXX Mapping¶

Greek Equivalent	Co-occurrences	PMI Score	Notes
κρίνω (krino) G2919	23×	18.23	Primary: "to judge/decide" — maps the legal-dispute sense
μάχομαι (machomai) G3164	9×	17.47	"to fight/quarrel" — maps the interpersonal strife sense
λοιδορέω (loidoreo) G3058	5×	14.51	"to revile" — maps the verbal chiding sense
δίκη (dike) G1349	6×	13.78	"justice/lawsuit" — maps the legal case sense
κρίσις (krisis) G2920	10×	10.55	"judgment/decision" — maps the court proceeding
ἀντίδικος (antidikos) G476	3×	10.21	"opponent in a lawsuit" — maps the adversary sense
λυτρόω (lytroo) G3084	4×	6.78	"to ransom/redeem" — maps the redemptive-defense sense

The LXX splits riyb's semantic range across multiple Greek words: krino/krisis for the legal dimension, machomai for physical strife, loidoreo for verbal rebuke.