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SHARON
1. Section of the plain on the Mediterranean coast of Israel. It extends from Joppa in the south to the Crocodile River, which serves as the northern border and separates it from the plain of Dor. The largest of the northern coastal plains, it is 50 miles (80 kilometers) from north to south and 10 miles (16.1 kilometers) wide. Its shore is straight and consists of beach and cliffs. There are no natural harbors along the coast, so the plain had no large trading ports. The Via Maris, a major north-south trading route, skirted the eastern edge of the plain.
Five streams or wadis cross the Sharon Plain: Nahal Tanninim (Crocodile River), Nahal Hadera, Nahal Alexander, Nahal Poleg, and Nahal Yarqon. These streams drain water from the Samaritan hills and empty into the Mediterranean. Until recent times, the streams formed extensive swamps that were infested with malaria-carrying mosquitoes. Sharon also has sand dune hills that rise to an elevation of 180 feet (54.9 meters) above sea level in the central part of the plain. In biblical times the elevated areas of Sharon were covered with oak trees. The combination of swamps, sand dunes, and forests made the area almost impenetrable. The plain was granted to Manasseh’s tribe by Joshua (Jos 17), but it was not effectively controlled by Israel until the time of David (1 Chr 27:29), and even then it was only used for pasturage.
In the book of Isaiah, Sharon is ranked with the regions of Carmel and Lebanon for its fertility and luxuriance (Is 33:9; 35:2). When Isaiah speaks of the final restoration, he refers to the Sharon pastures as the place for flocks (65:10). The “rose of Sharon” (Sg 2:1) may have been one of several varieties of red flowering plants that grow in the plain. The beauty of the rose is contrasted with the dense bramblelike underbrush characteristic of the plain.
2. Place perhaps identical with the town of Lasharon in Joshua 12:18. See Lasharon.
3. Area east of the Jordan called “the pasture lands of Sharon” in 1 Chronicles 5:16.