Shual
Shual is a region mentioned in the Old Testament, located in the region of Samaria in modern-day Israel. Known today as Taybeh. It appears across 1 verse in Scripture.
Biblical History
The land of Shual appears in the Old Testament in the context of Saul's military campaign against the Philistines, recorded in 1 Samuel 13:17. During the early monarchy period, after the Israelites had gathered at Gilgal, the Philistines sent out raiding parties to terrorize the surrounding territories. One of these raiding companies went toward the land of Shual, apparently a district in the hill country of Samaria north of Jerusalem. The account illustrates the desperate conditions facing early Israel under Philistine domination, the enemy held military advantage, even controlling iron-working so that Israelites could not arm themselves (1 Samuel 13:19-22). Shual thus represents one of the peripheral territories subject to Philistine plunder during this crisis period. The name itself means "fox" or "jackal" in Hebrew. Though mentioned only once, the region's appearance in this narrative underscores the geographic sweep of Philistine raiding activity and the vulnerability of Israel's villages and towns before Saul's military reforms gained momentum.
Archaeological & Historical Notes
The region of Shual is tentatively identified with the area around modern Taybeh (ancient Ophrah), northeast of Bethel in the central hill country of the West Bank. The ancient village of Taybeh sits on a prominent ridge and commands views across the surrounding territory, making it strategically significant. Survey work in this region has identified Iron Age I settlements consistent with the period described in 1 Samuel. Khirbet et-Taiyibeh preserves pottery and architectural remains from the relevant era. The broader area shows evidence of agricultural and pastoral activity consistent with an Israelite rural community susceptible to the kind of raiding described in 1 Samuel 13, though no site has been definitively linked to the biblical land of Shual.
Verse Appearances (1)
1Sam
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]