to contend
riv is to enter a dispute or challenge, and in cause-language to press or defend a case.
The verb most often marks direct contention between parties, whether people quarrel, confront one another, or challenge God. In a substantial group of passages, the contention is framed as a cause to be pressed or defended, especially when the LORD acts for the afflicted; a few contexts present hostile opposition without making the precise action clear from the translation.
Senses in use
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Engage in a dispute or confrontation · dominant
The Qal forms describe parties openly opposing one another: herdsmen quarrel over wells in Genesis 26:20 and Genesis 26:21, Jacob confronts Laban in Genesis 31:36, and Ephraim contends forcefully with Gideon in Judges 8:1. The same pattern includes challenges directed toward God or a divine figure, as Job asks why God contends with him in Job 10:2 and Jeremiah addresses the LORD while raising a question of justice in Jeremiah 12:1.
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Press or defend a cause · common
Several clauses place the verb alongside a stated cause, justice, or vulnerable party. In Isaiah 1:17 the imperative occurs in instructions concerning the widow, while Isaiah 49:25 presents the LORD acting against those who oppose his people; Proverbs 22:23 likewise says that the LORD will act for the cause of the poor. In Lamentations 3:58 the APB renders the clause, “You pleaded the cause of my soul,” in an address to the LORD.
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Hostile opposition or action · rare
A small set of contexts portrays opposition in a hostile setting rather than a spoken dispute. In 1 Samuel 15:5, a Hiphil sequential imperfect occurs where the APB says Saul “lay in wait in the valley”; in 1 Samuel 2:10, a Hiphil active participle construct appears in the clause about the LORD and his adversaries. The translation does not make the term's exact contribution equally clear in both verses.
In the Anselm Project Bible: Across the cited verses, the APB uses such expressions as “quarreled,” “contended,” “pleaded the cause,” and “confronted.” These renderings show the clauses' varying contexts rather than fixed English equivalents for every occurrence.