Difference between revisions of "Sharon"

<p> [[Plain Of]] a beautiful and spacious plain, extending from [[Caesarea]] to Joppa on the sea coast, and eastward to the mountains of Judea; and is celebrated for its wines, its flowers, and its pastures. It still preserves some portions of its natural beauty, and is adorned in the spring with the white and red rose, the narcissus, the white and orange lily, the carnation and other flowers; but for the rest of the year it appears little better than a desert, with here and there a ruined village, and some clumps of olive trees and sycamores. This name was almost become a proverb, to express a place of extraordinary beauty and fruitfulness, &nbsp;Isaiah 33:9; &nbsp;Isaiah 35:2 . But there are three cantons of Palestine known by the name of Sharon. The first, according to Eusebius and St. Jerom, is a canton between Mount Tabor and the sea of Tiberias. The second, a canton between the city of Caesarea of Palestine and Joppa. And the third a canton beyond Jordan, in the country of Basan, and in the division of the tribe of Gad. Modern travellers give this name also to the plain that lies between Ecdippe and Ptolemais. </p>

<p> [[Sharon]] ( ''Shâr'On'' ), ''The Plain.'' 1. A district in Palestine lying upon the seacoast. It extended from Joppa to [[Cæsarea]] (whence it is frequently in [[Scripture]] coupled with Carmel), and from the central hills to the Mediterranean. It was a region well adapted for pasture, &nbsp;1 Chronicles 27:29; &nbsp;Isaiah 65:10, very fertile, &nbsp;Isaiah 33:9; &nbsp;Isaiah 35:2, and celebrated for its roses. &nbsp;Song of Solomon 2:1. Its locality is further indicated as being in the neighborhood of Lydda, &nbsp;Acts 9:35, where it is called Saron, A. V., but Sharon in R. V. </p>

<p> (Heb, Sharon', '''''שָׁרוֹן''''' '', A Plain'' ; Sept. usually '''''Σαρών''''' [comp. &nbsp;Acts 9:35], '''''Σαρωνάς''''' ) '','' the name, apparently, of three places in Palestine. (See Sharonite). </p> <p> In the treatment of these we adduce the elucidations of modern critical and archaeological research. </p> <p> '''I.''' The district along the Mediterranean is that commonly referred to tunder this distinctive title. (See Saron). </p> <p> '''1.''' ''The Name'' . '''''—''''' This has invariably, when referring to this locality (&nbsp;1 Chronicles 27:29; &nbsp;Song of Solomon 2:1; &nbsp;Isaiah 33:9; &nbsp;Isaiah 35:2; &nbsp;Isaiah 65:10), the definite article, '''''הִשָּׁרוֹן''''' , ''Hash-Sharon'' ; and this is represented, likewise, in the Sept. renderings '''''Ὁ''''' '''''Σαρών''''' , '''''Ὁ''''' '''''Δρυμός''''' , '''''Τὸ''''' '''''Πεδίον''''' . ''.'' Two singular variations of this are found in the Vat. MS. (Mai), viz. &nbsp;1 Chronicles 5:16, '''''Γεριάμ''''' ; and 27:29, '''''‘Ἀσειδῶν''''' , where the A is a remnant of the Hebrew definite article. It is worthy of remark that a more decided trace of the Hebrew article appears in &nbsp;Acts 9:35, where some MSS. have '''''Ἀσσαρωνᾶ''''' . The [[Lasharon]] (q.v.) of &nbsp;Joshua 12:18, which some scholars consider to be Sharon with a preposition prefixed, appears to be more probably correctly given in the A.V. The term thus appears to be denominative of a peculiar place, like "the Arabah," "the Shephelah, "the Ciccar," "the Pisgah," etc. (See [[Topographical Terms]]). </p> <p> Sharon is derived by Gesenius (Thesaur. p. 642) from '''''יָשֹׁ''''' '''''—''''' '''''ר''''' '', To Be Straight'' or ''Even'' '''''—''''' the root, also, of ''Mishor,'' the name of a district east of Jordan. The application to it, however, by the Sept., by [[Josephus]] ( ''Ant.'' 15, 13, 3; War, 1, 13, 2), and by Strabo (16, p. 758) of the name '''''Δρυμός''''' or '''''Δρυμοί''''' , "woodland," is singular. It does not seem certain that that term implies the existence of wood on the plain of Sharon. Reland has pointed out ( ''Palmest.'' p. 190) that the Saronicus Sinus, or Bay of Saron, in Greece, was so called (Pliny, H.N. 4, 5) because of its woods, '''''Σάρωνις''''' meaning an oak. Thus it is not impossible that '''''Δρυμός''''' was used as an equivalent of the name Sharon, and was not intended to denote the presence of oaks or woods on the spot. May it not be a token that the original meaning of Saron, or Sharon, is not that which its received Hebrew root would imply, and that it has perished except in this one instance? The Alexandrine [[Jews]] who translated the Sept. are not likely to have known much either of the Saronic [[Gulf]] or of its connection with a rare Greek word. The thickets and groves of the region are proverbial (see below). </p> <p> '''2.''' ''Description'' . '''''—''''' According to &nbsp;Acts 9:15, this district was the level region adjacent to Lydda. Eusebius and Jerome ( ''Onomast.'' s.v. "Saron"), under the name of ''Saronas,'' specify it as the region extending from Caesarea to Joppa. This is corroborated by Jerome in his comments on the three passages in Isaiah, in one of which (on 55, 10) he appears to extend it as far south as Jamnia. He elsewhere (Comm. on &nbsp;Isaiah 35:2) characterizes it in words which admirably portray its aspects even at the present: "Omnis igitur candor [the white sand hills of the coast], cultus Dei [the wide crops of the finest corn], et circumcisionis scientia [the well- trimmed plantations], et loca uberrima et campestria [the long gentle swells of rich red and black earth], quae appellantur Saron." 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 Shephelah. From the passages above cited we gather that it was a place of pasture for cattle, where the royal herds of David grazed (&nbsp;1 Chronicles 27:29): the beauty of which was as generally recognized as that of Carmel itself (&nbsp;Isaiah 35:2), and the desolation of which would be indeed a calamity (&nbsp;Isaiah 33:9), and. its reestablishment a symbol of the highest prosperity (&nbsp;Isaiah 65:10). The rose of Sharon (q.v.) was a simile for all that a lover would express (&nbsp;Song of Solomon 2:1). </p> <p> Add to these slight traits the indications contained in the renderings of the Sept., '''''Τὸ''''' '''''Πεδίον''''' '','' "the plain," and '''''Ὁ''''' '''''Δρυμός''''' , "the wood," and we have exhausted all that we can gather from the Bible of the characteristics of Sharon. There are occasional allusions to wood in the description of the events which occurred in this district in later times. Thus, in the chronicles of the Crusades, the "Forest of Saron" was the scene of one of the most romantic adventures of [[Richard]] (Michaud, ''Histoire,'' 8); the "Forest of Assur" (i.e. Arsuf) is mentioned by Vinisauf (4, 16). To the southeast of Kaisariyeh there is still "a dreary wood of natural dwarf pines and entangled bushes" (Thomson, Land and Book, ch. 33). The orchards and palm groves round Jimzu, Lydd, and Ramleh, and the dense thickets of dom in the neighborhood of the two last, as well as the mulberry plantations in the valley of the Aujeh, a few miles from Jaffa '''''—''''' an industry happily increasing every day '''''—''''' show how easily wood might be maintained by care and cultivation (see Stanley, [[Sinai]] and Pal. p. 1260, note). It was famous for Saronite wine (Mishna, Nidda, 2, 7, comp. Chilaim, 2, 6), for roses, anciently (Mariti. Voyage, p. 350; Chateaubriand, Trav. 2, 55, comp. Russegger, 3, 201, 287) as well as now (Thomson, Land and Book, 2, 269). In Its midst, between Lydda and Arsuf, according to some, lay the village of Sharon (see Mariti, loc. cit.), once a city. (This is meant, perhaps, in &nbsp;Joshua 12:18, Acts 40:35.) But later travelers do not mention it, and it is not certain that the passages adduced refer to a city. There are many villages still on the plain (Berggren, Reis. 3, 162). The district has lost much of its ancient fertility, but it is yet good pasture land; there are, still flocks to be found grazing on it, though few in comparison with former days. Like the plain of Esddraelon, Sharon is very much, we might say entirely, deserted. Around Jaffa, indeed, it is well cultivated, and as you move northward from that town you are encompassed with groves of orange, olive, fig, lemon, pomegranate, and palm; the fragrance is delicious, almost oppressive. But farther north, save in a few rich spots, you find but little cultivation. Yet over all the undulating waste your eye is refreshed by the profusion of wild flowers scattered everywhere. Like many of the spots famed anciently for beauty and fertility, it only gives indications of what it might become (see Porter, Hand-book for Pal. p. 380). </p> <p> '''II.''' The Sharon of &nbsp;1 Chronicles 5:16 is distinguished from the western plain by not having the article attached to its name. It is also apparent from the passage itself that it was some district on the east of Jordan in the neighborhood of Gilead and Bashan (see Bachiene, 2, 3, 233). Reland objects to this ( ''Palest.'' p. 371), but on insufficient grounds. The expression "suburbs" ( '''''מַגְרְשֵׁי''''' ) is in itself remarkable. The name has not been met with in that direction, and the only approach to an explanation of it is that of Prof. Stanley ( ''Sinai And Pal.'' App. '''''§''''' 7), that Sharon may here be a synonym for the [[Mishor]] '''''—''''' word, probably, derived from the same root, describing a region with some of the same characteristics and attached to the pastoral plains east of the Jordan. </p> <p> '''III.''' Another Sharon is pointed out by Eusebius ( ''Ut Sup.'' ) in North Palestine, between Tabor and the Sea of Tiberias; and Dopke would understand this to be meant in &nbsp;Song of Solomon 2:1, because this book so often refers to the northern region of the Jordan. But this is very doubtful. </p>

<p> ''''' shâr´un ''''' ( השּׁרון , <i> ''''' ha ''''' </i> - <i> ''''' shārōn ''''' </i> , with the definite article possibly meaning "the plain"; τὸ πεδίον , <i> ''''' tó ''''' </i> <i> ''''' pedı́on ''''' </i> , ὁ δρυμός , <i> ''''' ho ''''' </i> <i> ''''' drumós ''''' </i> , ὁ Σαρών , <i> ''''' ho ''''' </i> <i> ''''' Sarṓn ''''' </i> ): </p> <p> (1) This name is attached to the strip of fairly level land which runs between the mountains and the shore of the Mediterranean, stretching from <i> ''''' Nahr ''''' </i> <i> ''''' Rubı̄n ''''' </i> in the South to Mt. Carmel in the North. There are considerable rolling hills; but, compared with the mountains to the East, it is quite properly described as a plain. The soil is a deep rich loam, which is favorable to the growth of cereals. The orange, the vine and the olive grow to great perfection. When the many-colored flowers are in bloom it is a scene of rare beauty. </p> <p> Of the streams in the plain four carry the bulk of the water from the western slopes of the mountains to the sea. They are also perennial, being fed by fountains. <i> ''''' Nahr ''''' </i> <i> ''''' el ''''' </i> - <i> ''''' ‛Aujeh ''''' </i> enters the sea to the North of Jaffa; <i> ''''' Nahr ''''' </i> <i> ''''' Iskanderūneh ''''' </i> 7 miles, and <i> ''''' Nahr ''''' </i> <i> ''''' el ''''' </i> - <i> ''''' Mefjir ''''' </i> fully 2 miles South of Caesarea; and <i> ''''' Nahr ''''' </i> ez- <i> ''''' Zerḳā ''''' </i> , the "Crocodile River," 2 1/2 miles North of Caesarea. <i> ''''' Nahr ''''' </i> <i> ''''' el ''''' </i> - <i> ''''' Fālik ''''' </i> runs its short course about 12 miles North of <i> ''''' Nahr ''''' </i> <i> ''''' el ''''' </i> - <i> ''''' ‛Aujeh ''''' </i> . [[Water]] is plentiful, and at almost any point it may be obtained by digging. Deep, finely built wells near some of the villages are among the most precious legacies left by the Crusaders. The breadth of the plain varies from 8 to 12 miles, being broadest in the Sharon. There are traces of a great forest in the northern part, which accounts for the use of the term <i> ''''' drumos ''''' </i> . Josephus ( <i> Ant. </i> , Xiv , xiii, 3) speaks of "the woods" ( <i> ''''' hoi ''''' </i> <i> ''''' drumoı́ ''''' </i> ) and Strabo (xvi) of "a great wood." There is still a considerable oak wood in this district. The "excellency" of Carmel and Sharon (&nbsp; Isaiah 35:2 ) is probably an allusion to the luxuriant oak forests. As in ancient times, great breadths are given up to the pasturing of cattle. Over David's herds that fed in Sharon was Shitrai the Sharonite (&nbsp;1 Chronicles 27:29 ). In the day of Israel's restoration "Sharon shall be a fold of flocks" (&nbsp;Isaiah 65:10 ). Jerome speaks of the fine cattle fed in the pastures of Sharon, and also sings the praises of its wine ( <i> Comm. </i> <i> on Isa </i> 33 and 65). Toward the Sharon no doubt there was more cultivation then than there is at the present day. The German colony to the North of Jaffa, preserving in its name, <i> ''''' Sārona ''''' </i> , the old Greek name of the plain, and several [[Jewish]] colonies are proving the wonderful productiveness of the soil. The orange groves of Jaffa are far-famed. </p> <p> "The rose of Sharon" (&nbsp;Song of Solomon 2:1 ) is a mistranslation: <i> ''''' ḥăbhacceleth ''''' </i> is not a "rose," but the white narcissus, which in season abounds in the plain. </p> <p> Sharon is mentioned in the New [[Testament]] only in &nbsp;Acts 9:35 . </p> <p> (2) A district East of the Jordan, occupied by the tribe of Gad (&nbsp;1 Chronicles 5:16; here the name is without the article). Kittel ("Ch," <i> SBOT </i> ) suggests that this is a corruption from "Sirion," which again is synonymous with Hermon. He would therefore identify Sharon with the pasture lands of Hermon. Others think that the <i> ''''' mı̄shōr ''''' </i> or table-land of Gilead is intended. </p> <p> (3) In &nbsp;Joshua 12:18 we should perhaps read "the king of Aphek in Sharon." See Lassharon . The order seems to point to some place Northeast of Tabor. Perhaps this is to be identified with the Sarona of Eusebius, <i> Onomasticon </i> , in the district between Tabor and Tiberias. If so, the name may be preserved in that of <i> ''''' Sārona ''''' </i> on the plateau to the Southwest of Tiberias. </p>