lion
ar.yeh denotes a lion, both as an animal in narratives and as an image of predatory force, roaring, and courage.
The evidence chiefly uses the singular noun for the animal itself, whether encountered on a road, killed, described as feeding, or excluded from a safe way. It also supplies the image in comparisons for courage, threatening attack, roaring, and a predator lying in wait.
Senses in use
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The animal in direct description or encounter · dominant
The singular absolute noun identifies the animal that kills a man and then stands by his carcass in 1 Kings 13:24; the APB renders the scene with a lion. It likewise names the animal whose carcass Samson revisits in Judges 14:8, the animal that roars in the forest in Amos 3:4, and the animal said to eat straw in Isaiah 11:7.
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Lion imagery in comparisons and threats · common
The same singular absolute noun occurs in comparisons: Judah crouches and lies down like a lion in Genesis 49:9, while a valiant man's heart is compared with a lion's heart in 2 Samuel 17:10. In Jeremiah 4:7 the APB renders a lion coming from its thicket as a destroyer of nations, and Psalm 10:9 compares a person lying in wait for the afflicted to a lion in its lair.
In the Anselm Project Bible: Across the clearer clauses, the APB normally presents the noun as a lion, both in direct animal scenes and in comparisons. Its supplied wording does not always visibly isolate the noun's contribution, including in Psalm 22:14 and Psalm 22:22.