lion
a.ri is a Hebrew noun for lions, used of living animals, figurative comparisons, and carved figures.
The term most often identifies living lions, including animals that attack prey, threaten people, or inhabit dens. It also supplies comparisons for strength, predation, and dangerous rulers, and it names lion figures engraved or placed on royal furnishings.
Senses in use
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Living lions in animal settings · dominant
The singular form identifies the animal that takes a sheep from David's flock in 1 Samuel 17:34 and that Benaiah kills in a pit in 2 Samuel 23:20. Plural forms occur where lions kill inhabitants in 2 Kings 17:25 and where a lion tears prey and fills its den in Nahum 2:12; in Song of Songs 4:8 the APB renders a location as “the dens of lions.”
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Figure of strength, threat, or predation · common
The noun is used in comparisons: Saul and Jonathan are described as stronger than lions in 2 Samuel 1:23, while Numbers 23:24 compares a people rising and devouring prey to a lion. In Ezekiel 22:25 the APB renders the prophets as a conspiracy “like a roaring lion tearing prey,” and Proverbs 28:15 compares a wicked ruler over poor people to a roaring lion.
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Lion figures on furnishings · occasional
Plural forms name lions standing beside a throne and on its steps in 1 Kings 10:19 and 1 Kings 10:20. In 1 Kings 7:29 the APB renders lions among the images on panels between the frames, alongside cattle and cherubim.
In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB normally presents the noun as “lion” or “lions,” including literal animals, comparisons, and carved figures. It also uses expanded phrases such as “roaring lion” and “young lion”; These expansions cannot by themselves define the noun.