Shalishah

Shalishah or Baal-Shalisha is a place of uncertain identification mentioned in the Book of Kings (2 Kings 4:42) and the Talmud (Sanhedrin 12a).

Baal-Shalisha is translated as "lord or master of three things", or "the third idol, the third husband; or, that governs or presides over three" (Baal=lord/master; Shalisha="three things", "third", or "three"). This ancient place name is thought to be preserved in the Arabic name of the modern village of Kafr Thulth.

According to Eusebius and Jerome, Baal-Shalisha was located 15 (Roman) miles north of Diopolis (Lydda). Eusebius identified it with Baithsarisa, the ancient Biblical village believed to have been located 3.5 mi to the south of Kafr Thulth at a site known in modern times as Khirbat Sirisya (now Serisiyyah, a ruin located west of Mount Ephraim). Another possibility is Khurbet Kefr Thulth (with Arabic Thulth comparable to the Hebrew Shalisha) which is roughly northeast of there. The Jerusalem Talmud (Sanhedrin 1:2) identifies it as the earliest place each year for fruits to ripen.