Bible Dictionaries
Shunem, Shunammites

Holman Bible Dictionary

(sshyoo' nehm, sshyoo' nam mite) Place name of uncertain meaning. Town in tribe of Issachar located southeast of Mount Carmel. The site was captured by the Egyptian pharaoh Thutmose III about 1450 B.C., again by Labayu of Shechem about 1350 B.C., and rebuilt by Biridya of Megiddo. The Israelites controlled it under Joshua (Joshua 19:18 ). The Philistines camped at Shunem while fighting with Saul (1 Samuel 28:4 ). About 920 B.C., the Egyptian pharaoh Shishak captured the town. See 1 Kings 1:3; compare 1 Kings 2:17 ). The prophet Elisha stayed often at the home of a Shunammite couple, prophesied that a son would be born to them, and raised the boy from the dead after an accident in the field (2 Kings 4:1 ). It is modern Solem, about eight miles north of Jenin and three miles east of Affulah.