Baal-Shalisha

Baal-shalisha is a region in Ephraim. It surfaces twice in the historical books — once as territory Saul searches in vain for his father's lost donkeys, and once as the home of a man who brings firstfruits to Elisha. UPDV preserves two spellings: "Shalishah" alone in 1 Samuel and "Baal-shalishah" in 2 Kings.

The Land Saul Searched

Saul's pursuit of the missing donkeys takes him through a sequence of named districts: "And he passed through the hill-country of Ephraim, and passed through the land of Shalishah, but they didn't find them: then they passed through the land of Shaalim, and they were not there: and he passed through the land of the Benjamites, but they didn't find them" (1 Sam 9:4). The "land of Shalishah" sits in the hill-country of Ephraim, named between Saul's home territory and the Benjamite stretch where the search continues.

The Firstfruits Brought to Elisha

In the Elisha cycle a stranger arrives from the same region with a gift of firstfruits: "And there came a man from Baal-shalishah, and brought the man of God bread of the first fruits, twenty loaves of barley, and fresh ears of grain in his sack. And he said, Give to the people, that they may eat" (2 Ki 4:42). The man's identity is local — he comes from Baal-shalishah — and his offering becomes the occasion for the multiplication-of-loaves miracle that follows.