34 Bible Verses about Disputes
Most Relevant Verses
the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac's herdsmen, saying, "The water belongs to us!" So Isaac named the well Esek because they argued with him about it. His servants dug another well, but they quarreled over it too, so Isaac named it Sitnah. Then he moved away from there and dug another well. They did not quarrel over it, so Isaac named it Rehoboth, saying, "For now the Lord has made room for us, and we will prosper in the land."
Jacob became angry and argued with Laban. "What did I do wrong?" he demanded of Laban. "What sin of mine prompted you to chase after me in hot pursuit?
So the people contended with Moses, and they said, "Give us water to drink!" Moses said to them, "Why do you contend with me? Why do you test the Lord?"
"If men fight, and one strikes his neighbor with a stone or with his fist and he does not die, but must remain in bed,
The people contended with Moses, saying, "If only we had died when our brothers died before the Lord!
The Ephraimites said to him, "Why have you done such a thing to us? You did not summon us when you went to fight the Midianites!" They argued vehemently with him.
Then two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him. One of the women said, "My master, this woman and I live in the same house. I had a baby while she was with me in the house. Then three days after I had my baby, this woman also had a baby. We were alone; there was no one else in the house except the two of us.read more.
This woman's child suffocated during the night when she rolled on top of him. She got up in the middle of the night and took my son from my side, while your servant was sleeping. She put him in her arms, and put her dead son in my arms. I got up in the morning to nurse my son, and there he was, dead! But when I examined him carefully in the morning, I realized it was not my baby." The other woman said, "No! My son is alive; your son is dead!" But the first woman replied, "No, your son is dead; my son is alive." Each presented her case before the king. The king said, "One says, 'My son is alive; your son is dead,' while the other says, 'No, your son is dead; my son is alive.'" The king ordered, "Get me a sword!" So they placed a sword before the king. The king then said, "Cut the living child in two, and give half to one and half to the other!" The real mother spoke up to the king, for her motherly instincts were aroused. She said, "My master, give her the living child! Whatever you do, don't kill him!" But the other woman said, "Neither one of us will have him! Let them cut him in two!" The king responded, "Give the first woman the living child; don't kill him. She is the mother." When all Israel heard about the judicial decision which the king had rendered, they respected the king, for they realized that he possessed supernatural wisdom to make judicial decisions.
So I registered a complaint with the leaders, asking "Why is the temple of God neglected?" Then I gathered them and reassigned them to their positions.
So I registered a complaint with the nobles of Judah, saying to them, "What is this evil thing that you are doing, profaning the Sabbath day?
So I entered a complaint with them. I called down a curse on them, and I struck some of the men and pulled out their hair. I had them swear by God saying, "You will not marry off your daughters to their sons, and you will not take any of their daughters as wives for your sons or for yourselves!
I will say to God, 'Do not condemn me; tell me why you are contending with me.'
"Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him? Let the person who accuses God give him an answer!"
Do not accuse anyone without legitimate cause, if he has not treated you wrongly.
Do not go out hastily to litigation, or what will you do afterward when your neighbor puts you to shame? When you argue a case with your neighbor, do not reveal the secret of another person,
When the experts in the law and the Pharisees saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, they said to his disciples, "Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?" When Jesus heard this he said to them, "Those who are healthy don't need a physician, but those who are sick do. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."
So the Pharisees said to him, "Look, why are they doing what is against the law on the Sabbath?" He said to them, "Have you never read what David did when he was in need and he and his companions were hungry --
Then they came to Capernaum. After Jesus was inside the house he asked them, "What were you discussing on the way?" But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. After he sat down, he called the twelve and said to them, "If anyone wants to be first, he must be last of all and servant of all."
Then the experts in the law and the Pharisees began to think to themselves, "Who is this man who is uttering blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?"
But the Pharisees and their experts in the law complained to his disciples, saying, "Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?"
But some of the Pharisees said, "Why are you doing what is against the law on the Sabbath?"
But some men from the Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), both Cyrenians and Alexandrians, as well as some from Cilicia and the province of Asia, stood up and argued with Stephen.
He was speaking and debating with the Greek-speaking Jews, but they were trying to kill him.
So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers took issue with him,
When Paul and Barnabas had a major argument and debate with them, the church appointed Paul and Barnabas and some others from among them to go up to meet with the apostles and elders in Jerusalem about this point of disagreement.
After there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, "Brothers, you know that some time ago God chose me to preach to the Gentiles so they would hear the message of the gospel and believe.
So he was addressing the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles in the synagogue, and in the marketplace every day those who happened to be there.
So Paul entered the synagogue and spoke out fearlessly for three months, addressing and convincing them about the kingdom of God. But when some were stubborn and refused to believe, reviling the Way before the congregation, he left them and took the disciples with him, addressing them every day in the lecture hall of Tyrannus.
When he said this, an argument began between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. (For the Sadducees say there is no resurrection, or angel, or spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all.) There was a great commotion, and some experts in the law from the party of the Pharisees stood up and protested strongly, "We find nothing wrong with this man. What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?"
They did not find me arguing with anyone or stirring up a crowd in the temple courts or in the synagogues or throughout the city,
When any of you has a legal dispute with another, does he dare go to court before the unrighteous rather than before the saints? Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you not competent to settle trivial suits? Do you not know that we will judge angels? Why not ordinary matters!read more.
So if you have ordinary lawsuits, do you appoint as judges those who have no standing in the church? I say this to your shame! Is there no one among you wise enough to settle disputes between fellow Christians? Instead, does a Christian sue a Christian, and do this before unbelievers? The fact that you have lawsuits among yourselves demonstrates that you have already been defeated. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated?
But even when Michael the archangel was arguing with the devil and debating with him concerning Moses' body, he did not dare to bring a slanderous judgment, but said, "May the Lord rebuke you!"
