Shalisha
Shalisha is a region mentioned in the Old Testament, located in the region of Samaria in modern-day Israel. Known today as Kafr Thulth. It appears across 1 verse in Scripture.
Biblical History
The land of Shalisha appears in 1 Samuel 9:4 as one of the regions through which Saul passed during his providential search for his father Kish's lost donkeys. Saul first traversed the hill country of Ephraim, then passed through the land of Shalisha before continuing through Shaalim and into Benjamin, where he finally encountered the prophet Samuel. This seemingly ordinary errand became the vehicle through which God directed Israel's first king to his anointing. Shalisha also appears indirectly in 2 Kings 4:42, where a man came from Baal-shalishah (meaning "lord of Shalisha" or "Baal of the triple land") bringing twenty loaves of barley bread and fresh grain to the prophet Elisha, who miraculously multiplied it to feed a hundred men. This miracle prefigures Jesus' feeding of the multitudes. The name Shalisha likely derives from the Hebrew word for "three" or "third," possibly indicating a tripartite district. Both biblical appearances connect Shalisha to moments of divine provision and guidance, first in God's orchestration of Saul's path to kingship, and then in Elisha's miraculous feeding that demonstrated God's abundant provision for His people.
Archaeological & Historical Notes
The land of Shalisha is generally located in the hill country of Ephraim, west of the central ridge. The town of Baal-shalishah mentioned in 2 Kings 4:42 has been identified with Kafr Thulth, a Palestinian village in the Samarian hills whose Arabic name preserves the Semitic root for "three," matching the Hebrew Shalisha. The site lies approximately 25 kilometers northeast of Tel Aviv in the western Samarian foothills. Eusebius in his Onomasticon (4th century AD) placed Baal-shalishah about 15 Roman miles north of Lydda (Lod), which roughly corresponds to the Kafr Thulth location. Limited archaeological survey has been conducted in the immediate area. The surrounding region of western Samaria contains numerous Iron Age settlement sites consistent with the agricultural character implied by the biblical reference to grain and bread offerings.
Verse Appearances (1)
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References
- Orr, J. (ed.) (1915) The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Chicago: Howard-Severance Company. [Public Domain]
- OpenBible.info (n.d.) Bible Geocoding. Available at: https://www.openbible.info/geo/. [CC BY 4.0]
- Bagnall, R. et al. (eds.) (n.d.) Pleiades: A Gazetteer of Past Places. Available at: https://pleiades.stoa.org. [CC BY 3.0]
- Wikidata contributors (n.d.) Wikidata. Available at: https://www.wikidata.org. [CC0]
- Lawrence, D. et al. (2025) Villages to Empires: a settlement dataset for the Southern Levant. doi:10.5281/zenodo.15111732. [CC BY 4.0]
- Church of England (1769) The Holy Bible, Authorized (King James) Version. [Public Domain]