Riyb (רִיב, Strong's H7378) is a Hebrew word. Strong's defines it as properly, to toss, i.e. grapple; mostly figuratively, to wrangle, i.e. hold a controversy; (by implication) to defend. The King James Bible translates it as adversary, chide, complain, contend, debate, × ever, × lay wait, plead, rebuke, strive, × thoroughly.

What is the Strong's number for Riyb?

The Strong's number for Riyb (רִיב) is H7378. It is a Hebrew word from Strong's public-domain dictionary keyed to the King James Bible.

Bible word study

Riyb (Strong’s H7378): Meaning in the Bible

Riyb (רִיב) is the Hebrew word numbered H7378 in Strong’s concordance of the Bible. Strong’s defines it as properly, to toss, i.e. grapple; mostly figuratively, to wrangle, i.e. hold a controversy; (by implication) to defend. In the King James Bible it is translated adversary, chide, complain, contend, debate.

רִיב

rîyb · Hebrew

Strong’s H7378 · reeb

Original wordרִיב
Transliterationrîyb
Pronunciationreeb
Part of speechverb (v)
Strong’s numberH7378
LanguageHebrew

The full Strong’s definition

properly, to toss, i.e. grapple; mostly figuratively, to wrangle, i.e. hold a controversy; (by implication) to defend

Derivation. or רוּב; a primitive root;

How the King James Bible translates it

adversary, chide, complain, contend, debate, × ever, × lay wait, plead, rebuke, strive, × thoroughly. (The × marks places where the word shapes the phrasing rather than being rendered by a single English word.)

Where Riyb appears in the Bible

In the King James Bible’s text tagged with Strong’s numbers, Riyb (H7378) stands behind 66 English renderings in 58 verses across 16 of the 66 books. It is most frequent in Judges (8), Isaiah (8), Job (7).

How the King James Bible renders Riyb, by count

plead24 of 66 (36 percent)
strive9 of 66 (14 percent)
contend7 of 66 (11 percent)
chide4 of 66 (6 percent)
contended3 of 66 (5 percent)
strove3 of 66 (5 percent)

Three places to read Riyb

Genesis 26:20 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.
Nehemiah 13:11 Then contended I with the rulers, and said, Why is the house of God forsaken? And I gathered them together, and set them in their place.
Proverbs 25:9 Debate thy cause with thy neighbour himself; and discover not a secret to another:

Counts are made at build time from the King James text tagged with Strong’s numbers (eBible.org, public domain). Verses are read from the stored King James text, never typed.

Why the word matters

Every word the biblical writers chose carries weight. Studying Riyb in the original Hebrew lets you read the passages where it appears more carefully, closer to what the first hearers understood, so the meaning is drawn from the text itself rather than from the English alone.

The lexical data on this page comes from the public-domain Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890), a Hebrew and Greek dictionary keyed to the King James Bible. It is a reference tool, not a settled verdict: no single word decides a doctrine, and meaning is finally shaped by how a word is used in its sentences. Read the passages themselves, prayerfully, and in full.

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