Shulamite

The Shulamite is the designation given to the beloved woman in the Song of Solomon 6:13, where the friends call to her: Return, return, O Shulamite; return, return, that we may gaze at you. The word is the feminine form of Sholomo (Solomon), leading some interpreters to understand it simply as Solomon's girl or the feminine counterpart to the king. Others connect it with the town of Shunem in Issachar, giving it the meaning Shunammite — and thus identifying the Shulamite with Abishag the Shunammite of 1 Kings 1–2. A third interpretation reads the term as meaning the peaceful one or the perfect one, derived from the root shalam. The Shulamite's voice dominates the Song as the female beloved who describes her dark complexion (Song 1:5), her vineyard (1:6), and her passionate longing for her lover.