Shunem

What is known

• An unnamed wealthy 'Shunammite woman' hosted the prophet Elisha, built him a rooftop room, and later saw her son raised from the dead by him (2 Kings 4)
• The Philistines camped at Shunem before the battle of Mount Gilboa in which Saul and his sons died (1 Samuel 28:4)
• Abishag, the young woman brought to comfort the aging King David, was 'a Shunammite' (1 Kings 1:3), and after David's death Adonijah's request to marry her cost him his life (1 Kings 2:13-25)
• The site is mentioned in Egyptian records (the topographical list of Thutmose III and the Amarna letters) under the name Sunama, confirming its antiquity outside the biblical text

History

Founded

A settlement in the tribal territory of Issachar, occupied from at least the Late Bronze Age

Industry

Agricultural town in the fertile Jezreel Valley; strategically situated on the slope of the Hill of Moreh opposite Mount Gilboa

Coordinates

32.5906° N, 35.3306° E

Scripture references

• Joshua 19:17-18 — Shunem listed in the territory of Issachar
• 1 Samuel 28:4 — The Philistines camp at Shunem before Gilboa
• 1 Kings 1:3 — Abishag the Shunammite brought to King David
• 1 Kings 2:13-25 — Adonijah's fatal request to marry Abishag
• 2 Kings 4:8-37 — The Shunammite woman, Elisha, and the raising of her son
• 2 Kings 8:1-6 — The Shunammite woman's land restored by the king

On a modern map

Shunem today

Further reading

• Shunem - Wikipedia