Hebrew word · H3114

יוֹיָרִיב

yoyariv

Joiarib

A shortened form of Yehôyārîv, "YHWH contends" or "YHWH pleads (a case)." It comes from rîv, a word for a legal dispute or lawsuit.

Appears 5 times in 5 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. · Updated October 21, 2026

What it means

A man of the tribe of Levi living at the time of Exile and Return, first mentioned at 1Ch.9.10;

father of: Jedaiah (H3048); also called Jehoiarib at 1Ch.9.10;

Also named: ye.ho.ya.riv (יְהוֹיָרִיב "Jehoiarib" H3080H)

§ Joiarib = "Jehovah contends"

1) the head of the 1st of the 24 courses of priests in David's time

2) a teacher in the time of Ezra

3) a Judaite in the time of Nehemiah

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

Range of meaning: A shortened form of Yehôyārîv, "YHWH contends" or "YHWH pleads (a case)." It comes from rîv, a word for a legal dispute or lawsuit.
Against the English: English versions give the name only. KJV, WEB, YLT and BSB use the short form "Joiarib" here, but in 1 Chronicles they use "Jehoiarib", so readers may not see that the two are the same priestly line.
Used elsewhere in the period: 1 Chr 9:10 and 24:7 (Jehoiarib, first of the 24 rotations). Neh 12:6, 19 (a priestly head and his successor Mattenai). 1 Macc 2:1 says the Hasmonean family (Mattathias and his sons, the Maccabees) came "from the sons of Joarib." Josephus (Life 1–2) claims descent from this first rotation.

Range of meaning: A personal name built from the divine name (Yo-/Yeho-, 'the LORD') and the verb riv, 'to contend, to bring or plead a legal case'. So the name means 'the LORD contends' or 'the LORD pleads [my] case'. In Ezra and Nehemiah it names a priestly family (Neh 11:10; 12:6, 19) and also a man of insight (Ezra 8:16). In 1 Chronicles 9:10 and 24:7 it appears in the longer form Jehoiarib, the first of the twenty-four priestly divisions (rotating groups of priests).
Against the English: English versions simply transliterate the name. Older versions spell it in different ways (Joiarib, Jehoiarib, Joarib), which hides the fact that all of these are the same priestly line.
Used elsewhere in the period: 1 Chronicles 24:7 puts Jehoiarib first among the priestly divisions. In 1 Maccabees 2:1 and 14:29, Mattathias, father of the Maccabees, is 'of the sons of Joarib'. This makes the Hasmonean priest-kings descendants of this line. Josephus (Life 1–2) says his own family belonged to 'the first of the twenty-four courses', that is, Jehoiarib.

Ezra · 1

Ezra 8:16 וּלְיוֹיָרִ֥יב and for Joiarib

Then I summoned the leaders: Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam, as well as the teachers Joiarib and Elnathan.

Nehemiah · 4

Nehemiah 11:5 יוֹיָרִ֛יב Joiarib

and Maaseiah son of Baruch, the son of Col-hozeh, the son of Hazaiah, the son of Adaiah, the son of Joiarib, the son of Zechariah, a descendant of Shelah.
Nehemiah 11:10 יוֹיָרִ֖יב Joiarib

From the priests: Jedaiah son of Joiarib; Jachin;

Here: A shortened form of Jehoiarib, meaning "Yah contends" or "Yah pleads the case." Jehoiarib was the first of the 24 priestly rotations (1 Chr 24:7), and a priestly head named Joiarib also appears among the returnees (Neh 12:6, 19).
Nehemiah 12:6 וְיוֹיָרִ֖יב and Joiarib

Shemaiah, Joiarib, Jedaiah,

Here: 'And' plus Joiarib, a shorter form of Jehoiarib, meaning 'the LORD contends' or 'the LORD pleads the case'. This is the priestly line counted first among the twenty-four priestly divisions in 1 Chronicles 24:7. The 'and' here is unusual in a list that otherwise has no conjunctions, and many scholars think it marks where a second group of names begins.
Nehemiah 12:19 וּלְיוֹיָרִ֣יב and of Joiarib

of Joiarib, Mattenai; of Jedaiah, Uzzi;

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.