Hebrew word · H8171

שַׁעֲלִים

sha'alim

Shaalim

Two district names, both of uncertain location. Shalishah may be related to the number 'three' (shalosh), but its meaning is unclear. Shaalim probably means 'foxes' or 'jackals.'

Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. · Updated November 15, 2026

What it means

§ Shalim = "foxes"

a district in Israel

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of 1 Samuel 9:4

Range of meaning: Two district names, both of uncertain location. Shalishah may be related to the number 'three' (shalosh), but its meaning is unclear. Shaalim probably means 'foxes' or 'jackals.'
Against the English: Spellings vary: KJV 'Shalisha' and 'Shalim,' others 'Shalishah' and 'Shaalim.' NIV-type renderings call them 'district' or 'area' rather than 'land.'
Used elsewhere in the period: Baal-shalishah, in 2 Kings 4:42, is often placed in the western Ephraim foothills. A 'land of Shual' near Ophrah appears in 1 Samuel 13:17, and some think it is the same as Shaalim. The Greek Septuagint's forms of these names differ widely, which shows that early translators were unsure of them too.

Where it appears

1 Samuel · 1

1 Samuel 9:4 שַׁעֲלִים֙ Shaalim

So Saul passed through the hill country of Ephraim and then through the land of Shalishah, but they did not find the donkeys. He and the servant went through the region of Shaalim, but they were not there. Then they went through the land of Benjamin, and still they did not find them.

Here: An unknown district. The name probably comes from the word for 'foxes' or 'jackals' (shu'al). It may be the same as the 'land of Shual' near Ophrah (1 Samuel 13:17), but that is only a guess.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.