'Controversy' in the Bible

“If any case is too difficult for you to judge—between one kind of homicide and another, between one kind of lawsuit and another, between one kind of assault and another, being controversial issues in your courts—then you shall arise and go to the place which the Lord your God chooses.

then both parties to the controversy shall stand before the Lord, before the priests and the judges who will be in office at that time.

Then the priests, the sons of Levi, shall approach, for the Lord your God has chosen them to serve Him and to bless in the Name (Presence) of the Lord; and every dispute and every assault (violent crime) shall be settled by them.

“If there is a controversy between men, and they go to court, and the judges decide [the issue] between them, and they judge in favor of the innocent and condemn the guilty,

He would get up early and stand beside the road to the gate [of the city, where court was held]; and when any man who had a dispute came to the king for judgment, Absalom would call to him, “From what city are you?” And he would say, “Your servant is from one of the tribes of Israel.”

Whenever any dispute comes to you from your brothers (relatives) who live in their cities, between blood and blood, between law and commandment, or between statutes and judgments, you are to warn [and instruct] them so that they may not be guilty before the Lord; otherwise [God’s] wrath will come on you and your brothers. Do this and you will not be guilty.

‘A noise has come to the end of the earth,For the Lord has a controversy with and an indictment against the nations.He is entering into judgment with all mankind;As for the wicked, He has given them to the sword,’ says the Lord.”

In a controversy they shall take their stand to act as judges; they shall judge it in accordance with My ordinances. They shall also keep My laws and My statutes in all My appointed feasts and sanctify My Sabbaths.

Hear the word of the Lord, you children of Israel,For the Lord has a [legal] case with the inhabitants of the land,Because there is no faithfulness [no steadfast love, no dependability] or loyalty or kindnessOr knowledge of God [from personal experience with Him] in the land.

The Lord also has a dispute [a legal complaint and an indictment] with Judah,And He will punish Jacob in accordance with his ways;He will repay him in accordance with his deeds.

“Hear, O mountains, the indictment of the Lord,And you enduring foundations of the earth,For the Lord has a case (a legal complaint) against His people,And He will dispute (challenge) Israel.

An argument started among them as to which of them might be the greatest [surpassing the others in esteem and authority].

Therefore there arose a controversy between John’s disciples and a Jew in regard to purification (ceremonial washing).

instead they had some points of disagreement with him about their own religion and about one Jesus, a man who had died, but whom Paul kept asserting and insisting [over and over] to be alive.

he is conceited and woefully ignorant [understanding nothing]. He has a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words, which produces envy, quarrels, verbal abuse, evil suspicions,

Remind the people of these facts, and solemnly charge them in the presence of God to avoid petty controversy over words, which does no good, and [upsets and undermines and] ruins [the faith of] those who listen.