Hebrew word · H4090

מְדָן

medanim

strife

Strife, contention, quarrel, dispute. It is a by-form of mādôn (H4066), from the root dîn, 'to judge, to plead a case'. The word has a flavour of accusation and counter-accusation, like a lawsuit carried on in daily life.

Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

strife, contention

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

In depth

From the study of Proverbs 10:12

Range of meaning

Strife, contention, quarrel, dispute. It is a by-form of mādôn (H4066), from the root dîn, 'to judge, to plead a case'. The word has a flavour of accusation and counter-accusation, like a lawsuit carried on in daily life.

Against the English

KJV 'strifes' (plural) keeps the plural; BSB 'dissension' and NIV 'conflict' capture the social division; YLT 'contentions' is closest to the word's argumentative edge.

Used elsewhere in the period

The word family is concentrated in Proverbs: the troublemaker who 'sows discord' (6:14, 19), the hothead who 'stirs up strife' (15:18; 29:22), the quarrelsome man who kindles strife like charcoal on embers (26:21), the greedy man who stirs up strife (28:25).

From the study of Proverbs 6:19

Range of meaning

Strife, contention, quarrel, dispute. The word is related to māḏôn (H4066) and comes from the root dyn, 'to judge, plead a case'. Its range runs from a household squabble (Proverbs 21:9, 19, the 'quarrelsome wife') to a dispute that ends up before judges (18:18, settled by lot).

Against the English

'Discord' (KJV, WEB, BSB) is a fair general word. 'Contentions' (YLT) and 'strife' (NASB) keep the sense of active conflict better. None of them carries the legal flavour of the root.

Used elsewhere in the period

The word is concentrated in Proverbs: 6:14, 19; 10:12 ('hatred stirs up mədānîm, love covers all offences'); 15:18; 16:28; 18:18–19; 26:20 ('where there is no whisperer, quarrelling ceases'). The Greek Septuagint renders it here with kriseis, 'judgments, lawsuits'.

Where it appears

Proverbs · 2

  1. Proverbs 6:19 מְ֝דָנִ֗ים contentions

    a false witness who gives false testimony, and one who stirs up discord among brothers.

    Here: Plural 'quarrels' or 'disputes'. The word comes from the root for judging and pleading a case, so it covers both personal feuds and legal disputes. That links it to the courtroom picture of the first line.

  2. Proverbs 10:12 מְדָנִ֑ים contentions

    Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers all transgressions.

    Here: Quarrels and disputes, from a root meaning 'to judge' or 'to plead a case'. The plural suggests one fight after another, the kind of feud that sets people in a community against each other.

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