(Sharʹon).

1. The maritime plain between the Plain of Dor (S of Carmel) and the Plain of Philistia. From its northern border formed by the Crocodile River (Nahr ez-Zerqa), Sharon extends southward for about 60 km (40 mi) to the area of Joppa and varies in width from about 16 to 19 km (10 to 12 mi). Extensive sand dunes are found along the coast. Crossed by highways, the area anciently was of considerable military and commercial importance.

Sharon was noted for its fertility (compare Isa 35:2), being a well-watered region through which several streams flowed. Flocks and herds grazed there. (1Ch 27:29; compare Isa 65:10.) Great oak forests once occupied the northern part of Sharon, whereas the southern part, as today, likely was more extensively cultivated. It appears that much of the region was desolated during the Assyrian invasion in the eighth century B.C.E.​—Isa 33:9.

 In The Song of Solomon the Shulammite is depicted as describing herself as “a mere saffron of the coastal plain,” evidently meaning just a common flower among the many growing in Sharon.​—Ca 2:1.

2. According to 1 Chronicles 5:16, the tribe of Gad dwelt in “Gilead, in Bashan and in its dependent towns and in all the pasture grounds of Sharon.” Some scholars think that this means that Gadites grazed their flocks in the coastal plains of Sharon. However, Gad received territory E of the Jordan, and both Gilead and Bashan are on that side. Thus many conclude that there was also a region in Gad’s territory called Sharon.