strive
part of speech
verb (strive, strives, strove or strived, striven or strived, striving)
meaning for a pupil
1) To try very hard to do or get something, over a long time: strive to do your best. tree →
2) To struggle or fight against something. tree →
sense in the lessons
In the Tanakh and Jewish tradition: "Strive" here means to quarrel or struggle against someone, not just try hard. In the Psalms it also means to fight on someone's side, as the psalmist asks God to strive with those who strive against him. Interpretation: At Massah and Meribah the people quarrelled with Moses over water. Tradition reads this as the people testing God, and it is among the failings Moses mentions when speaking of the desert years. Proverbs warns against striving with a man for no reason, which is read as a lesson in peace. In the primary lessons: Common in school mottoes, assemblies and formal writing: «We strive for excellence.» In values lessons: striving means working hard and not giving up. In the Bible and hymns: strive to do good. In stories: heroes strive against danger.
examples
- Wherefore the people strove with Moses, and said: 'Give us water that we may drink.' And Moses said unto them: 'Why strive ye with me? wherefore do ye try the LORD?' (Torah EXO.17.2, JPS 1917) tree →
- And of Levi he said: Thy Thummim and Thy Urim be with Thy holy one, whom Thou didst prove at Massah, with whom Thou didst strive at the waters of Meribah; (Torah DEU.33.8, JPS 1917) tree →
- When men strive together one with another, and the wife of the one draweth near to deliver her husband out of the hand of him that smiteth him, and putteth forth her hand, and taketh him by the secrets; (Torah DEU.25.11, JPS 1917) tree →
- And do not I strive with those that rise up against Thee? (Writings PSA.139.21, JPS 1917) tree →
- Strive not with a man without cause, if he have done thee no harm. (Writings PRO.3.30, JPS 1917) tree →
- Strive, O LORD, with them that strive with me; fight against them that fight against me. (Writings PSA.35.1, JPS 1917) tree →
- We strive to be kind to everyone. tree →
- She strove to finish the race. tree →
- Our school motto is «Strive and Succeed». tree →
- The team strives to improve every week. tree →
- Mole strove to keep up with the Rat. tree →
- Scientists strive to find cures for diseases. tree →
- They strove against the storm all night. tree →
- But the wife had walked far, and was very tired, and strive as she would, she fell sound asleep. tree →
note
Irregular: strive, strove, striven (old) or strived (newer, especially in the USA). Formal; everyday word: «try hard». Noun: strife (fighting) is related but different in meaning.
In the corpora
- And they digged another well, and they strove for that also.
- And he removed from thence, and digged another well; and for that they strove not.
- And Jacob was wroth, and strove with Laban.
- These are the waters of Meribah, where the children of Israel strove with the LORD, and He was sanctified in them.
- Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker, as a potsherd with the potsherds of the earth!
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «strive» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.