SHARON
“plain”.
(a) Coastal plain, between Joppa and Carmel; Inland, it reaches the hills of Samaria. Sharon, which had been very fertile (Is. 35:2), and where flocks grazed (1 Chron. 27:29; Is. 65:10), was transformed into a desert due to the invasions (Is. 33:9 ).
The lilies, the daffodils, the anemones of Sharon were remarkable. (See LILY, ROSE.) It measures around 80 km in length and between 14 and 16 in width; undulating, and dotted with holm oaks, it had excellent pastures, except for some places where thorns and thistles abounded. Currently there are citrus plantations.
(b) Pastures east of the Jordan (1 Chron. 5:16). A possible explanation of this name is that it is a corruption of Sirion (Hermon), which would designate the meadows at the foot of Hermon; another, that it is synonymous with “mîshõr”, a plateau of Gilead, between the Arnon and Heshbon (cf. Deut. 3:10).