A Shulamite (or Shulammite; , , ) is the woman in
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;["Tanach"](_blank)
. '' King Solomon
King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a constitutional monarch if his power is restrained by f ...
, mentioned by this appellation twice in the "
Song of Songs
The Song of Songs (), also called the Canticle of Canticles or the Song of Solomon, is a Biblical poetry, biblical poem, one of the five ("scrolls") in the ('writings'), the last section of the Tanakh. Unlike other books in the Hebrew Bible, i ...
".
Background
She is most likely called the Shulammite because she came from an unidentified place called Shulem. Many scholars consider ''Shulammite'' to be synonymous with ''Shunammite'' ("person from Shunem").
Shunem
Shunem or Shunaam ( ''Šūnēm''; in LXX ) 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 ().
Shunaam is where the Philistines camped when they ...
was a village in the territory of Issachar, north of Jezreel and south of Mount Gilboa. Other scholars link ''Shulem'' with ''Salem'', believing Solomon's bride was from Jerusalem. Still others believe that the title ''Shulammite'' ("peaceful") is simply the bride's married name, being the feminine form of ''Solomon'' ("peaceful") and only used after her marriage to the king.
Solomon uses passionate language to describe his bride and their love (Song 4:1–15). Solomon clearly loved the Shulammite—and he admired her character as well as her beauty (Song 6:9). Everything about the Song of Solomon portrays the fact that this bride and groom were passionately in love and that there was mutual respect and friendship, as well (Song 8:6–7).
Shulamite in culture
Art
Image:Gustave Wappers - The Shulammite.jpg, Gustaf Wappers
Egide Charles Gustave, Baron Wappers (23 August 18036 December 1874) was a Belgian painter. His work is generally considered to be Flemish and he signed his work with the Dutch form of his name, Gustaaf Wappers.Note: The painter is known by one ...
, ''The Shulammite'', 1870
Image:Franz Pforr - Shulamit and Mary - WGA17402.jpg, Franz Pforr
Franz Pforr (5 April 1788 – 16 June 1812) was a painter of the German Nazarene movement.
Biography
He was born in Frankfurt am Main. He received his earliest training from his father, the painter Johann Georg Pforr (1745–98), and his uncle ...
, ''Maria and Shulammite'', 1811
File:Albert Joseph Moore - The Shulamite 1864.jpg, Albert Joseph Moore
Albert Joseph Moore (4 September 184125 September 1893) was an English painter, known for his depictions of languorous female figures set against the luxury and decadence of the classical world.
Life
Moore was born at York on 4 September 184 ...
, ''The Shulamite relating the Glories of King Solomon to her Maidens'', 1894
File:Fountain of the smell-sunamites.JPG, Statue in Bom Jesus do Monte
The Sanctuary of Bom Jesus do Monte is a Portuguese Catholic shrine in Tenões, outside the city of Braga, in northern Portugal. Its name means ''Good Jesus of the Mount''.
This sanctuary is a notable example of Christian pilgrimage site with ...
See also
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Shunamitism
Shunamitism (also referred to as gerocomy) is the practice of an old man sleeping with, but not necessarily having sex with, a young virgin to preserve his youth. It is considered an esoteric youth-enhancing method. The rationale was that the hea ...
References
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Song of Songs
Women in the Hebrew Bible
Unnamed people of the Bible