Larry Hammersley

The Shunammite Woman Larry Hammersley

The story of the Shunammite Woman is based on the Old Testament scriptures 2 Kings 4:8-37 and 2 Kings 8:1-6. She is described as a great woman. She shows hospitality to the prophet Elisha and his servant, Gehazi as they pass through her village of Shunem on their way to Mt. Carmel. The Bible reveals that her husband is old and they have no children. When Elisha wants to reward her for the kindness she has shown to him, she asks nothing in payment. Her answer is simply, "I dwell among mine own people." Gehazi reveals to Elisha that her husband is old and she has no child. Elisha tells her she will have a son. The biblical account covers the birth of a son at the appointed time and later the son dies, apparently from a sun stroke. Elisha raises him from the dead. A famine is prophesied by Elisha and he tells her to leave until the seven years of famine is over. She chooses to go to the land of the Philistines. The fictional elements of the story cover how she meets her future husband at a market in Sidon which leads up to the account found in the Bible. Her seven years in the land of the Philistines involves another fictional account where she meets their king. While there she gives the king and the farmers the benefit of her crop planting experience and the Philistines farmland flourishes as a result. After the famine is over, she journeys back to Shunem and finds her house is occupied. King Joram restores her house and land, thus ending this story with the account in the Bible.