Word study
Argue
6 Hebrew and 4 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: argue, arguing, argues, argued. English often uses one word where Hebrew or Greek has several, each with its own shade of meaning. Under each word are verses where it is translated this way; choose the word itself for its full study: every verse, how else it is translated, the forms it takes and what the dictionaries say.
At a glance
How often each original word is translated “argue” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side Compare the Greek words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- יָכַח yâkachdecide, adjudge, provetranslated this way 4 times of its 56 uses · Strong’s H3198Verb · Translated: rebuke 13, rebukes 3, appointed 2, judge 2Full study and all 54 verses →
Job 13:3 Yet I desire to speak to the Almighty and argue my case before God.
Micah 6:2 Hear, O mountains, the LORD’s indictment, you enduring foundations of the earth. For the LORD has a case against His people, and He will argue it against Israel:
- רִיב rîbstrive, contendtranslated this way 2 times of its 64 uses · Strong’s H7378Verb · Translated: contend 13, quarreled 4, plead 4, rebuked 4Full study and all 58 verses →
Job 13:8 Would you show Him partiality or argue in His defense?
Micah 7:9 Because I have sinned against Him, I must endure the rage of the LORD, until He argues my case and executes justice for me. He will bring me into the light; I will see His righteousness.
- דִּין dînjudgetranslated this way 1 time of its 23 uses · Strong’s H1777Verb · Translated: judge 7, vindicate 3, contend 2, judges 2Full study and all 23 verses →
2 Samuel 19:9 And all the people throughout the tribes of Israel were arguing, “The king rescued us from the hand of our enemies and delivered us from the hand of the Philistines, but now he has fled the land because of Absalom.
- דָבַר dâbarspeaktranslated this way 1 time of its 1,113 uses · Strong’s H1696Verb · Translated: speak 209, said 157, spoken 142, spoke 110Full study and all 1,025 verses →
- רִיב rîbstrife, disputetranslated this way 1 time of its 61 uses · Strong’s H7379Noun · Translated: case 11, strife 9, dispute 8, cause 8Full study and all 60 verses →
Proverbs 25:9 Argue your case with your neighbor without betraying another’s confidence,
- שָׁפַט shâphaṭjudge, governtranslated this way 1 time of its 199 uses · Strong’s H8199Verb · Translated: judge 81, judges 35, judged 15, vindicate 7Full study and all 181 verses →
Isaiah 43:26 Remind Me, let us argue the matter together. State your case, so that you may be vindicated.
Greek words (New Testament)
- συζητέω syzētéōI seek together, discuss, disputetranslated this way 2 times of its 10 uses · Strong’s G4802Verb · Translated: began to ask 1, argue 1, discussing 1, arguing 1Full study and all 10 verses →
Mark 8:11 Then the Pharisees came and began to argue with Jesus, testing Him by demanding from Him a sign from heaven.
Mark 9:14 When they returned to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them, and scribes arguing with them.
- διαλέγομαι dialégomaiI converse, address, preach, lecturetranslated this way 2 times of its 12 uses · Strong’s G1256Verb · Translated: reasoned 4, arguing 2, talked 2Full study and all 12 verses →
Mark 9:34 But they were silent, for on the way they had been arguing about which of them was the greatest.
Acts 19:8 Then Paul went into the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God.
- διαλογισμός dialogismósa calculation, reasoning, thought, plottingtranslated this way 1 time of its 14 uses · Strong’s G1261Noun · Translated: thoughts 7, thinking 2Full study and all 14 verses →
Philippians 2:14 Do everything without complaining or arguing,
- μάχομαι máchomaiI engage in battle, fight, strivetranslated this way 1 time of its 4 uses · Strong’s G3164Verb · Translated: began to argue 1, fighting 1, quarrelsome 1, quarrel 1Full study and all 4 verses →
John 6:52 At this, the Jews began to argue among themselves, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?”
How to study a word well
- Start from the verse, not the dictionary. Find which Hebrew or Greek word stands in the verse you are studying. One English word often translates several different original words.
- Read every place the word is used. A word means what its writers used it to mean. The list of verses and the count by book show its range, and who uses it most.
- Look at how it is translated. A word rendered five different ways has a wider meaning than any one English word can carry.
- Notice the form. A command is not a statement, and a passive verb is something done to the subject. The form in your verse is part of the meaning.
- See what it keeps company with. The words that appear beside it again and again show how the Bible itself connects ideas.
- Then read the dictionaries. They give the considered view of scholars, with their evidence.
- Come back to the verse. Context decides. A word does not carry every one of its meanings into every verse, and where a word came from does not settle what it means in a sentence written centuries later.
Scripture text and translation counts: Berean Standard Bible. Full entry: Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906, public domain), in the digital edition Brown-Driver-Briggs Enhanced by unfoldingWord (Joel Ruark, J. de Joode), based on data by Eliran Wong and Stephen Ku; its additions are used under CC BY 4.0. Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary: Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project, CC BY 4.0. Hebrew-to-English verse numbering: original work of the Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible available at https://github.com/openscriptures/morphhb, CC BY 4.0. We reformatted the data, linked the references to this site’s Bible text and left out words in other scripts that the source holds only as images. These are historical reference works; an entry gives its authors’ view, and a word’s meaning in any verse depends on how it is used there.