The woman of Shunem (or Shunammite woman) is a character in the Hebrew Bible. 2 Kings 4:8 describes her as a "great woman" (KJV) in the town of Shunem. Her name is not recorded in the biblical text.
The woman of Shunem (or Shunammite woman) is a character in the Hebrew Bible. 2 Kings 4:8 describes her as a "great woman" (KJV) in the town of Shunem. Her name is not recorded in the biblical text.
According to 2 Kings 4, she showed hospitality to the prophet Elisha, constructing a room where he could stay whenever he was in the town. She is childless, but Elisha prophesies that she will have a son. A year later she gives birth to a son.
2 Kings 4:18–37 relates how, when her son had grown up, he became sick and died. She goes to Elisha for help, and he brings her son back to life.
The woman of Shunem appears again in 2 Kings 8. At Elisha's advice, she has spent seven years in Philistia to avoid a famine, and has come back to find she no longer has possession of her house and land. She appeals to the king (Jehoram), and her property is restored to her.
Abraham Kuyper views the woman of Shunem as a typical example of pious people in Israel having love and respect for the prophets. Kuyper suggests that the narrative indicates her "independence and readiness". [1] Carol Meyers notes that "unlike virtually all women in biblical narratives, she is not presented as the 'wife' of someone". [2] Claudia Camp says that the woman is "both independent and maternal, powerful and pious." [3] The proposal to build a room for Elisha originates with the woman and is supported by her husband (2 Kings 4:9–10).
Abimelech was the generic name given to all Philistine kings in the Hebrew Bible from the time of Abraham through King David. In the Book of Judges, Abimelech, son of Gideon, of the Tribe of Manasseh, is proclaimed king of Shechem after the death of his father.
Abigail was an Israelite woman in the Hebrew Bible married to Nabal; she married the future King David after Nabal's death. Abigail was David's third wife, after Ahinoam and Saul's daughter, Michal, whom Saul later married to Palti, son of Laish, when David went into hiding.
The Book of Kings is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. It concludes the Deuteronomistic history, a history of ancient Israel also including the books of Joshua, Judges, and Samuel.
In the Hebrew Bible, Abishag was a beautiful young woman of Shunem chosen to be a helper and servant to King David in his old age. Among Abishag's duties was to lie next to David and pass along her body heat and vigor because "they put covers on him, but he could not get warm".
Shunem or Shunaam was a small village mentioned in the Bible in the possession of the Tribe of Issachar. It was located near the Jezreel Valley, north of Mount Gilboa.
Sarah is a biblical matriarch, prophet, and major figure in Abrahamic religions. While different Abrahamic faiths portray her differently, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all depict her character similarly, as that of a pious woman, renowned for her hospitality and beauty, the wife and half-sister of Abraham, and the mother of Isaac. Sarah has her feast day on 1 September in the Catholic Church, 19 August in the Coptic Orthodox Church, 20 January in the LCMS, and 12 and 20 December in the Eastern Orthodox Church.
According to the Book of Genesis, Hagar was an Egyptian slave, a handmaiden of Sarah, whom Sarah gave to her own husband Abram as a wife to bear him a child. Abraham's firstborn son, through Hagar, Ishmael, became the progenitor of the Ishmaelites, generally taken to be the Arabs. Various commentators have connected her to the Hagrites, perhaps claiming her as their eponymous ancestor. Hagar is alluded to, although not named, in the Quran, and Islam considers her Abraham's second wife.
Delilah is a woman mentioned in the sixteenth chapter of the Book of Judges in the Hebrew Bible. She is loved by Samson, a Nazirite who possesses great strength and serves as the final Judge of Israel. Delilah is bribed by the lords of the Philistines to discover the source of his strength. After three failed attempts at doing so, she finally goads Samson into telling her that his vigor is derived from his hair. As he sleeps, Delilah cuts Samson's hair, thereby enabling her to turn him over to the Philistines.
Naomi is Ruth's mother-in-law in the Hebrew Bible in the Book of Ruth. The etymology of her name is not certain, but it is possible that it means "good, pleasant, lovely, winsome."
Jezebel was the daughter of Ithobaal I of Tyre and the wife of Ahab, King of Israel, according to the Book of Kings of the Hebrew Bible.
Gehazi, Geichazi, or Giezi (Douay-Rheims), is a figure found in the Books of Kings in the Hebrew Bible.
Luke 7 is the seventh chapter of the Gospel of Luke in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It tells the records of two great miracles performed by Jesus, his reply to John the Baptist's question, and the anointing by a sinful woman. The book containing this chapter is anonymous, but early Christian tradition uniformly affirmed that Luke the Evangelist, a companion of Paul the Apostle on his missionary journeys, composed this Gospel as well as the Acts of the Apostles.
The Judgement of Solomon is a story from the Hebrew Bible in which Solomon ruled between two women who both claimed to be the mother of a child. Solomon ordered the baby be cut in half, with each woman to receive one half. The first woman accepted the compromise as fair, but the second begged Solomon to give the baby to her rival, preferring the baby to live, even without her. Solomon ordered the baby given to the second woman, as her love was selfless, as opposed to the first woman's selfish disregard for the baby's actual well-being. Some consider this approach to justice an archetypal example of an impartial judge displaying wisdom in making a ruling.
Women in the Bible are wives, mothers and daughters, servants, slaves and prostitutes. As both victors and victims, some women in the Bible change the course of important events while others are powerless to affect even their destinies. The majority of women in the Bible are anonymous and unnamed. Individual portraits of various women in the Bible show women in various roles. The New Testament refers to a number of women in Jesus' inner circle, and scholars generally see him as dealing with women with respect and even equality.
Elisha was, according to the Hebrew Bible, a Jewish prophet and a wonder-worker. His name is commonly transliterated into English as Elisha via Hebrew, Eliseus via Greek and Latin, or Alyasa via Arabic, and Elyasa or Elyesa via Turkish. Also mentioned in the New Testament and the Quran,[6:86][38:48] Elisha is venerated as a prophet in Judaism, Christianity and Islam and writings of the Bahá'í Faith refer to him by name.
The raising of the son of the woman of Shunem is a miracle by Elisha narrated in the Hebrew Bible, 2 Kings 4:
2 Kings 4: 32 When Elisha came into the house, he saw the child lying dead on his bed. 33 So he went in and shut the door behind the two of them and prayed to the Lord. 34 Then he went up and lay on the child, putting his mouth on his mouth, his eyes on his eyes, and his hands on his hands. And as he stretched himself upon him, the flesh of the child became warm. 35 Then he got up again and walked once back and forth in the house, and went up and stretched himself upon him. The child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes.
2 Kings 4 is the fourth chapter of the second part of the Books of Kings in the Hebrew Bible or the Second Book of Kings in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. The book is a compilation of various annals recording the acts of the kings of Israel and Judah by a Deuteronomic compiler in the seventh century BCE, with a supplement added in the sixth century BCE. In this chapter some of Elisha's acts are recorded: the first part is how he helped a poor widow of a prophet to repay her family debts, the second part is how he helped a family to have a son, and the third part is how he helped to make the food of his disciples harmless to eat as well as to multiply a small amount of food to feed about one hundred guests with some leftovers.
2 Kings 8 is the eighth chapter of the second part of the Books of Kings in the Hebrew Bible or the Second Book of Kings in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. The book is a compilation of various annals recording the acts of the kings of Israel and Judah by a Deuteronomic compiler in the seventh century BCE, with a supplement added in the sixth century BCE. This chapter records Elisha's acts in helping the family of Shunammite woman to escape famine, then to gain back their land and in contributing to Hazael's ascension to the throne of Syria (Aram) in verses 7–15; then subsequently records the reigns of Joram and Ahaziah, the kings of Judah.
1 Kings 17 is the seventeenth chapter of the Books of Kings in the Hebrew Bible or the First Book of Kings in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. The book is a compilation of various annals recording the acts of the kings of Israel and Judah by a Deuteronomic compiler in the seventh century BCE, with a supplement added in the sixth century BCE. This chapter belongs to the section comprising 1 Kings 16:15 to 2 Kings 8:29 which documents the period of Omri's dynasty. The focus of this chapter is the activity of prophet Elijah during the reign of king Ahab in the northern kingdom.
Job's wife is an unnamed biblical figure mentioned in the Book of Job.
