The @OrderBy annotation is shown with red for "priority" in the following code, which is correct and works in hibernate: import org.hibernate.annotations.Cascade; import org.hibernate.annotations.CascadeType; import javax.persistence.*; import java.util.ArrayList; import java.util.List; @Entity public class Container { // ----- instance fields ----- List<Content> content = new ArrayList<Content>(); private int id; // ----- public methods ----- @OneToMany(targetEntity = Content.class) @Cascade(CascadeType.ALL) @JoinColumn(name = "CONTAINER_ID", nullable = false) @OrderBy("priority ASC") public List<Content> getContent() { return content; } public void setContent(List<Content> content) { this.content = content; } @Column(name = "ID", nullable = false) @Id @GeneratedValue(strategy = GenerationType.AUTO) public int getId() { return id; } public void setId(int id) { this.id = id; } } import javax.persistence.Column; import javax.persistence.Entity; import javax.persistence.GeneratedValue; import javax.persistence.GenerationType; import javax.persistence.Id; @Entity public class Content { // ----- instance fields ----- int id; int priority; // ----- constructors ----- public Content(int priority) { this.priority = priority; } public Content() { } // ----- public methods ----- @Id @Column(name = "ID", nullable = false) @GeneratedValue(strategy = GenerationType.AUTO) public int getId() { return id; } } public void setId(int id) { this.id = id; } public int getPriority() { return priority; } public void setPriority(int priority) { this.priority = priority; } }