to lean
sha.an denotes leaning on physical support or relying on a person, power, or source of security.
The term most often marks reliance upon a person, the LORD, military resources, security, or understanding; it also describes bodily or spatial support, such as leaning on a hand, spear, pillars, or boundary.
Senses in use
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Relying on a person, power, or security · dominant
In Isaiah 10:20, the clause contrasts leaning on the one who struck Israel with leaning on the LORD; in Isaiah 31:1, those seeking help in Egypt lean on horses. The same reliance relation appears when Judah leans upon the LORD in 2 Chronicles 13:18, while Proverbs 3:5 warns against leaning on one's own understanding.
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Resting against physical support · common
In 2 Kings 5:18 and 2 Kings 7:2, a man is described in relation to leaning on a hand, and in 2 Samuel 1:6 Saul is leaning upon his spear. Judges 16:26 places Samson by the pillars on which the house rests, so that he may lean on them; Numbers 21:15 uses the term of a wadi slope leaning on Moab's border.
In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB commonly presents the term with “lean” or “rely,” including physical support in 2 Samuel 1:6 and reliance in Isaiah 50:10. It also renders Genesis 18:4 as “rest under the tree”; That wording should not be treated as a separate lexical definition.