sharon Summary and Overview

(a plain), a district of the holy land occasionally referred to in the Bible. #1Ch 5:16; Isa 33:9| In #Ac 9:35| called SARON. The name has on each occurrence with one exception only, #1Ch 5:16| the definite article; it would therefore appear that "the Sharon" was some well-defined region familiar to the Israelites. It is that broad, rich tract of land which lies between the mountains of the central part of the holy land and the Mediterranean --the northern continuation of the Shefelah. [PALESTINE] The Sharon of #2Ch 5:16| to which allusion has already been made, is distinguished front the western plain by not having the article attached to its name, as the other invariably has. It is also apparent from the passage itself that it was some district on the east of the Jordan, in the neighborhood of Gilead and Bashan. The name has not been met with in that direction.

SHAR'ON (the plain), a level tract along the Mediterranean, between Caesarea and Joppa; called also Saron. Acts 9:35. It is 25 or 30 miles in length, and from 8 to 15 miles in width. Scripture History. - Sharon is first noticed in the Bible as Lasharon, the Hebrew article being taken as part of the word. Josh 12:18. It was renowned for its fertility. The flocks of David fed there, and Isaiah praised its excellency and uses it both in promise and in threatening. 1 Chr 27:29; Isa 35:2; Isa 65:10; Ex 33:9. The Rose of Sharon is celebrated in Solomon's Song 2:1. Present Condition. - The luxuriance and fertility of the plain of Sharon are noted to this day, although the frequent raids of the Bedouin make its cultivation difficult. The plain has on the north a range of inland cliffs. A portion of the plain is composed of marl and alluvial soil, another portion of red sandstone and shelly breccias of blown sand in large patches. The hills are of softest chalk, gently sloping, partly covered by woods of oak, the trees standing at intervals like a park, the ground being sandy in some places and of a loam or limestone character in others. Sharon is mentioned in connection with Gilead in Bashan in 1 Chr 5:16. Stanley, noting the difficulty of supposing that the pasture-lands of Gad could have been so far from the home of the tribe east of the Jordan as Sharon would have been, thinks that "Sharon" - which has in the Hebrew exactly the same meaning as Mishor - may signify the Mishor, or "upland downs," of Gilead and Bashan.

1 Chronicles 5:16; Isaiah 33:9, "the excellency (beauty) of Sharon" (Isaiah 35:2), Isaiah 65:10; Song of Solomon 2:1, "the rose (narcissus) of Sharon," famous for flowers and for pasture; Acts 9:35. The broad rich tract between the central mountains and the Mediterranean, stretching from Joppa or Jaffa northwards to Carmel. Half the width is of marl and alluvial soil, the other half of old red semi-consolidated sand and shelly breccias. (See PALESTINE.) The coast is marked by white sandhills; fine grain, well trimmed plantations, and long gentle swells of rich red and black earth, characterize Sharon. A second Sharon beyond Jordan is not meant in 1 Chronicles 5:16, as some have imagined. It is not said that the Gadites possessed cities in Sharon but only pastures of Sharon; these the Gadites sought for their herds as far as the Mediterranean coast. As intercourse was maintained between the cis-Jordanic Manassites and the trans-Jordanic Manassites, the Gadites with the latter might very well repair with their herds to the Sharon pastures, as the domain of cis-Jordanic Manasseh stretched into the plain of Sharon. Translated "and in all the pasture grounds of Sharon unto their outgoings" to the sea (Joshua 17:9). David had his herds feeding in Sharon with Shitrai the Sharonite over them. Gesenius derives Sharon from jashar "straight," "a plain country." One of the earliest recorded travelers in this district was an Egyptian, whose papyrus has been lately transliterated; then as now agricultural pursuits prevailed here, and illustrations are still found of the Egyptian and Eastern plows.