Biography

Biography
by Karen

The Shunammite Woman

There are many women in the Bible who are not named. The Shunammite woman is one of them. These women are important because they provide role models for modern-day Christians.

The Shunammite woman is discussed in 2 Kings 4: 8-37. The story begins with a prophet of God named Elisha. Elisha made frequent trips to the town of Shunem. In one of his trips, a local woman urged him to join her for a meal. Elisha agreed. Soon, the meals with the Shunammite woman and her husband became a regular stop for Elisha on his trips to Shunem.

Now the Shunammite woman was very well to do. She had a wonderful home. She and her husband were financially comfortable, and they were well respected in her community. By all appearances, she had everything that a woman could want. But appearances can be deceiving.

The couple from Shunem had run out of time to have a family. Her husband was becoming elderly, and still, she had not be blessed with a child. This would have been very heartbreaking for a woman in any time, but particularly for women in Bible Times.

Despite her sadness over not having become a mother, the Shunammite woman remained contented and caring and filled with compassion. It was her compassion that had led her to ask Elisha to stay for that first meal, which then paved the way for many more meals together. Finally, she asked her husband to prepare a bedroom upstairs in their home so that Elisha could stay there on his regular visits to Shunem.

One evening, Elisha summoned her to his room to ask her what he could do in return for all of their hospitality. The Shunammite woman responded that she had all that she needed. She was happy and contented. There was nothing he could do beyond enjoying their hospitality.

Even though she never mentioned not having given birth, Elisha learned of her deep and untold sadness from one of her servants. He then told the Shunammite woman that a year from then she would give birth to a son. And she did!

The moral of this story, and the legacy of the Shunammite woman, is that one must avoid anger, bitterness or envy, and that keeping your heart full of happiness and love is rewarded by God.

Information source for this article:
Dele Oke, (2008). Shunammite—Women of the Bible. The Living Word Library at http://www.workdlibrary.co.uk, The New International Study Bible. Zondervan Publishing House, USA.