prey
te.reph denotes an animal’s catch or food, and in violent imagery the victim or goods seized.
The term most often denotes what lions and other predators catch, seek, devour, or hold; several passages extend the image to people or goods taken by violent oppressors. In household and divine-provision contexts, it occurs in clauses about food being sought or given, while Ezekiel 17:9 places its plural construct form in a clause concerning foliage stripped from a plant.
Senses in use
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An animal’s catch or victim · dominant
The singular absolute form occurs in lion imagery: in Amos 3:4 the APB renders a lion roaring when it has no “prey,” and in Job 38:39 it asks whether prey can be hunted for the lion. In Isaiah 5:29 and Numbers 23:24, the surrounding action is seizing or devouring; Psalm 124:6 presents those delivered from being given to enemies’ teeth.
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Food supplied or sought · common
In non-hunting provision scenes, the singular absolute form stands in clauses about nourishment. Job 24:5 describes food sought in the steppe for the young, Proverbs 31:15 describes food given to a household, and Psalm 111:5 says that God gives it to those who fear him.
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What is stripped or seized in violent imagery · occasional
In Ezekiel 22:25 and Ezekiel 22:27, the form occurs in comparisons of prophets and rulers to predators, followed by devouring lives, shedding blood, and seizing wealth. Nahum 3:1 places it in a city full of plunder, while the plural construct form in Ezekiel 17:9 occurs in the APB clause about foliage withering after the plant is stripped.
In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB commonly uses “prey” in predator and violent-threat scenes, but uses “food” in household or provision clauses and “plunder” in Nahum 3:1. Because the APB is a whole-verse translation, these renderings confirm the clauses’ imagery without fixing a separate English equivalent in every verse.