📖 Biblical Definition
Strife is bitter conflict — angry contention — the deliberate fanning of sparks between people. Scripture lists it among the works of the flesh: "adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife..." (Galatians 5:19-21). Proverbs names its source bluntly: "Only by pride cometh contention" (Proverbs 13:10); "A wrathful man stirreth up strife: but he that is slow to anger appeaseth strife" (15:18); "As coals are to burning coals, and wood to fire; so is a contentious man to kindle strife" (26:21). The peacemaker is blessed (Matthew 5:9); the strife-stirrer is named alongside the sexually immoral. Christian men must refuse to be the spark, even when the wood is dry.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
STRIFE, n.
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1. Exertion or contention for superiority; contest of emulation. 2. Contention in anger; fighting; battle. 3. Opposition; contrariety; contrast. 4. The agitation produced by different qualities or principles.
📖 Key Scripture
Proverbs 13:10 — "Only by pride cometh contention: but with the well advised is wisdom."
Galatians 5:20 — "Hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies."
Proverbs 17:14 — "The beginning of strife is as when one letteth out water: therefore leave off contention, before it be meddled with."
James 3:16 — "Where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Modern engagement-economics rewards strife and starves peace.
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Solomon's diagnosis is precise: only by pride cometh contention (Prov 13:10). Every strife in marriage, every quarrel in church, every political feud, every keyboard war — root it down, and you find pride. Peace breaks out where pride bows; strife multiplies where pride preens. The Spirit-filled man is identifiable by the absence of strife around him, not the abundance of it.
Solomon's second word is just as practical: the beginning of strife is as when one letteth out water (Prov 17:14). Once the leak starts, the dike fails. Most strife is preventable in the first ten seconds — before the reply is sent, before the rumor is forwarded, before the soft answer is replaced by the sharp one. Leave off contention before it be meddled with.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Hebrew riv (H7379); Greek eris (G2054).
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H7379 — riv — strife, controversy, dispute
H4066 — madon — strife, contention
G2054 — eris — strife, wrangling
Usage
"Look under every strife; you will find pride at the root."
"A man of God refuses to be a vending machine for arguments."
"The first second of strife is the cheap one to extinguish; by the third you are paying retail."