# Who Was the Shulamite Woman? > Song of Solomon 6:13 addresses the Shulamite. The Song gives her no personal name. She is not the Shunammite who hosted Elisha in 2 Kings 4, and she is not Abishag. - Canonical: https://apologetics.wiki/christianity/who-was-the-shulamite-woman - Religions: Christianity - Denominations: none - Beliefs: none - Tags: song-of-solomon, shulamite, solomon - Updated: 2026-10-13 The Shulamite is the woman addressed in [Song of Solomon 6:13](/bible/song-of-solomon/6/13): “Return, return, O Shulamite.” The Song gives her no personal name. She is not the great woman of Shunem who hosted Elisha in 2 Kings 4, and she is not Abishag the Shunammite who was brought to David in 1 Kings 1. ## Key Points - [Song of Solomon 6:13](/bible/song-of-solomon/6/13) is the verse that says “O Shulamite.” The Hebrew word is [שׁוּלַמִּית (H7759)](/bible/hebrew/shulamit-h7759). - [Song of Solomon 1:5–6](/bible/song-of-solomon/1) says, “I am black, but comely,” and “the sun hath looked upon me.” - [Song of Solomon 1:1](/bible/song-of-solomon/1/1) calls the book “the song of songs, which is Solomon’s.” [1 Kings 11:3](/bible/1-kings/11/3) says he had seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines. Those verses do not name a Shulamite wife. - Strong’s longer line on H7759 calls her “an epithet of Solomon’s queen.” That is the dictionary’s wording. The Song does not print the title queen for her. - The woman of [2 Kings 4](/bible/2-kings/4) lives at [Shunem (H7766)](/bible/hebrew/shunem-h7766). She feeds Elisha. The prophet in that chapter is Elisha, not Elijah. - [1 Kings 1:3](/bible/1-kings/1/3) names Abishag a Shunammite. She is a third woman, in David’s last days. ## Where the Shulamite Woman Is Found [Song of Solomon 6:13](/bible/song-of-solomon/6/13) [(1)](#ref-1): “Return, return, O Shulamite; return, return, that we may look upon thee. What will ye see in the Shulamite? As it were the company of two armies.” The speakers say “we” and “ye.” The verse does not narrate a wedding day, a father’s house by a map name, or a later history. The Hebrew entry [H7759](/bible/hebrew/shulamit-h7759) has the short gloss “Shulamite.” The longer dictionary line is “peaceful (with the article always prefixed, making it a pet name); the Shulammith, an epithet of Solomon’s queen.” [What Is Strong’s Concordance?](/christianity/what-is-strongs-concordance) is what that longer line is: Strong’s 1894 wording, printed on the word page, not a sentence the Song adds. [Song of Solomon 1:1](/bible/song-of-solomon/1/1) [(4)](#ref-4): “The song of songs, which is Solomon’s.” ## What the Shulamite Woman Looked Like [Song of Solomon 1:5](/bible/song-of-solomon/1/5) [(2)](#ref-2): “I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon.” [Song of Solomon 1:6](/bible/song-of-solomon/1/6) [(3)](#ref-3): “Look not upon me, because I am black, because the sun hath looked upon me: my mother’s children were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept.” Those two verses are the description the Song gives at the start: dark from the sun, comely, compared with the tents of Kedar and the curtains of Solomon, and set to keep vineyards. The book does not add a height or a portrait beyond the comparisons in the poems. [Song of Solomon 6:9](/bible/song-of-solomon/6/9) [(5)](#ref-5): “My dove, my undefiled is but one; she is the only one of her mother, she is the choice one of her that bare her. The daughters saw her, and blessed her; yea, the queens and the concubines, and they praised her.” The sentence calls her one, the choice of her mother, and praised by queens and concubines. It still does not give her a personal name. ## Did Solomon Love the Shulamite? The Song is called Solomon’s, and it is a book of love poems addressed to the Shulamite. It does not contain the sentence “Solomon loved the Shulamite,” and it does not rank her against the wives in the history. [1 Kings 11:3](/bible/1-kings/11/3) [(10)](#ref-10): “And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart.” The verse counts the wives. It does not name a Shulamite among them, and it does not name a most loved wife. The historical books do not identify the woman of the Song with one of those princesses. ## The Shunammite Woman of 2 Kings 4 [2 Kings 4:8](/bible/2-kings/4/8) [(6)](#ref-6): “And it fell on a day, that Elisha passed to Shunem, where was a great woman; and she constrained him to eat bread. And so it was, that as oft as he passed by, he turned in thither to eat bread.” She tells her husband that this is a holy man of God who passes by continually, and she asks for a little chamber on the wall, with a bed, a table, a stool, and a candlestick. Elisha says that about that season she will embrace a son. The child dies. Elisha prays, stretches himself upon the child, and the child sneezes seven times and opens his eyes. [2 Kings 4:36](/bible/2-kings/4/36) [(7)](#ref-7): “And he called Gehazi, and said, Call this Shunammite. So he called her. And when she was come in unto him, he said, Take up thy son.” The place is Shunem. The prophet is Elisha. The woman is called the Shunammite because of the town, not Shulamite. The Hebrew place name is [שׁוּנֵם (H7766)](/bible/hebrew/shunem-h7766), a different number from H7759. ## Abishag the Shunammite [1 Kings 1:3](/bible/1-kings/1/3) [(8)](#ref-8): “So they sought for a fair damsel throughout all the coasts of Israel, and found Abishag a Shunammite, and brought her to the king.” [1 Kings 1:4](/bible/1-kings/1/4) [(9)](#ref-9): “And the damsel was very fair, and cherished the king, and ministered to him: but the king knew her not.” Abishag has a name, a town, and a place in David’s household. The Song’s Shulamite has the title in Song 6:13 and no personal name. The two are not the same verse. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What Bible Verse Tells the Story of Elijah and the Shunammite Woman? The Shunammite’s chapter is [2 Kings 4](/bible/2-kings/4), and the prophet there is Elisha. Elijah’s host in the drought is the widow of Zarephath. [1 Kings 17:9](/bible/1-kings/17/9) [(11)](#ref-11): “Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.” That widow is not called a Shunammite. ### Who Was Solomon’s Most Loved Wife? [1 Kings 11:3](/bible/1-kings/11/3) gives the number of wives and concubines and says his wives turned away his heart. It does not name a favorite, and it does not name the Shulamite. Song 6:9 says “my dove, my undefiled is but one.” It does not supply the personal name the history omits. ### What Does the Text Say About the Woman of Shunem? Second Kings 4 calls her a great woman. She constrains Elisha to eat bread as often as he passes. She has a chamber built for him. She bears a son, the son dies, and Elisha restores him. The chapter does not call her the Shulamite. ## Keep Reading - [Song of Solomon 6](/bible/song-of-solomon/6) - [2 Kings 4](/bible/2-kings/4) - [1 Kings 1](/bible/1-kings/1) - [שׁוּלַמִּית (H7759)](/bible/hebrew/shulamit-h7759) - [שׁוּנֵם (H7766)](/bible/hebrew/shunem-h7766) - [What Is Strong’s Concordance?](/christianity/what-is-strongs-concordance) ## Passages Quoted on This Page ### Song of Solomon 1:5–6 King James Version. > [1:5] I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon. [1:6] Look not upon me, because I am black, because the sun hath looked upon me: my mother’s children were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept. ## Sources Numbered to match the HTML References list. Item 1 is `#ref-1` under `#references`. Scripture links to the King James Version on this site. 1. [Song of Solomon, 6:13](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/song-of-solomon/6/13). King James Version 2. [Song of Solomon, 1:5](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/song-of-solomon/1/5). King James Version 3. [Song of Solomon, 1:6](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/song-of-solomon/1/6). King James Version 4. [Song of Solomon, 1:1](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/song-of-solomon/1/1). King James Version 5. [Song of Solomon, 6:9](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/song-of-solomon/6/9). King James Version 6. [2 Kings, 4:8](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/2-kings/4/8). King James Version 7. [2 Kings, 4:36](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/2-kings/4/36). King James Version 8. [1 Kings, 1:3](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/1-kings/1/3). King James Version 9. [1 Kings, 1:4](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/1-kings/1/4). King James Version 10. [1 Kings, 11:3](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/1-kings/11/3). King James Version 11. [1 Kings, 17:9](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/1-kings/17/9). King James Version ## See Also - [Baptist vs Catholic: What's the Difference?](https://apologetics.wiki/christianity/baptist-vs-catholic) — The Baptist Faith and Message beside the Catechism of the Catholic Church on authority, baptism, justification, Mary and the saints, the pope, and the Lord’s Supper. - [Can Eastern Orthodox Priests Marry?](https://apologetics.wiki/eastern-orthodox/can-eastern-orthodox-priests-marry) — An Orthodox clergy answer says a married man may be ordained deacon or priest, once, and may not marry after ordination. The OCA’s Trullo essay says bishops are celibate. Catholic Canon 277 binds clerics to celibacy. Anglican Article XXXII says priests may marry. - [Can You Lose Your Salvation? What Each Church Teaches About "Once Saved, Always Saved"](https://apologetics.wiki/christianity/once-saved-always-saved) — Can a Christian lose salvation? Official teaching from Catholic, Orthodox, Lutheran, Reformed, Baptist, Methodist, Pentecostal, and other churches, with the King James verses each side cites. - [Catholic vs Protestant: What's the Difference?](https://apologetics.wiki/christianity/catholic-vs-protestant) — Catholics are Christians. The difference is authority, justification, the sacraments, Mary and the saints, purgatory, and the pope, in each church’s own words. - [Did Christianity Exist Before Jesus?](https://apologetics.wiki/christianity/did-christianity-exist-before-jesus) — The name Christian is first used at Antioch in Acts 11:26, after Pentecost. Israel’s scriptures already promised a Messiah. They do not call that hope Christianity.