Bible Dictionary
Shunammite
A Shunammite was a person from Shunem. The designation applies especially to Abishag and to the woman whose son Elisha restored to life.
Definition
A Shunammite was a person from Shunem. The designation is applied to Abishag, who ministered to David, and to an unnamed woman whose son Elisha restored to life; it is also connected with the Shulammite.
Biblical Usage
The Shunammite designation identifies Abishag in the account of David’s old age and the woman who received Elisha and whose son was restored to life. The unnamed woman later recovered her property through Elisha’s intervention.
Historical Background
The term means a native of Shunem. The supplied material notes that the Shulammite involves an exchange of “l” for “n,” a variation found in these names.
Scripture References
Related Figures
Historical Bible Dictionaries
Easton's Bible Dictionary
A person of Shunem (1 Kings 1:3; 2 Kings 4:12). The Syr. and Arab. read “Sulamite.”
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>shoo'-na-mit (shunammith, shunammith; Codex Vaticanus Somaneitis; Codex Alexandrinus Soumanites): Applied to natives of Shunem.</p><p>(1) Abishag, who was brought to minister to the aged king David, love for whom led Adonijah to his doom (1Ki 1:3,15; 2:17, etc.).</p><p>(2) The woman, name unknown, whose son Elisha raised from the dead (2Ki 4:12, etc.). Later when apparently she had become a widow, after seven years' absence on account of famine, in the land of the Philistines, she returned to find her property in the hands of others. Elisha's intervention secured its restoration (2Ki 8:1-6).</p><p>(3) The Shulammite (So 6:13). In this name there is the exchange of "l" for "n" which is common.</p><p>W. Ewing</p>