Shen

Shen (meaning: a tooth or tooth-like crag) was the name given to a rock or crag that served as one of the boundary markers defining the location where Samuel set up the Ebenezer stone after Israel's decisive victory over the Philistines (1 Samuel 7:12). The stone was placed between Mizpeh and Shen, memorializing God's help: Hitherto hath the Lord helped us.

The tooth-shaped rock from which Shen takes its name was likely a prominent limestone outcrop in the hill country of Benjamin, a natural landmark recognizable to people of the region. It is mentioned only in this one verse and cannot be located with certainty today. The victory at Mizpeh that the Ebenezer stone commemorated represented a major turning point: the Philistines who had taken the ark of the covenant were repelled, and Israel recovered the cities they had lost. The stone of help marked the boundary between the preceding era of defeat and a new beginning under Samuel's leadership.