SARON (Heb. haš-Šarón, Gr. ὁ Σαφών, Lat. Saronas). – 1. Biblical name for the tract of the Palestinian plain extending along the coast from Carmel to Jaffa, celebrated for its fertility (Is. 35:2), for the abundance of its pastures (Is. 65:10; I Par. 27:29), and for its flower-filled meadows of narcissi and anemones (Cant. 2:1).
In antiquity, the alluvial zone between Carmel and Caesarea rivaled, in its dense woods and thickets, the glory of Lebanon and Carmel (Is. 35:2), and for this reason S. is translated by ὁ ἁρμῶς (ibid. 65:10), a name also adopted by Flavius Josephus (Bell. Ind., I, 13,2; Antiq. Ind., XIV, 13,1) and by Strabo (XVI, 2,27). The name S. is applied to the fertile fields, watered by numerous streams, extending from Nahr ez-Zerqā to Nahr el-'Auġā', where the plain widens inland to as much as 20 km.; it is translated τὸ πεδίον (Cant. 2:1). Eusebius (On., 163,2) specifies that «a Caesarea Palaestina usque ad oppidum Ioppe omnis terra quae cernitur, dicitur Saronas». After a long period of abandonment, during which the plain had become marshy, it has today, in the State of Israel, regained its proverbial magnificence. From Tel Aviv to Haifa, numerous agricultural villages have arisen, and luxuriant citrus groves, olive groves, vineyards, and vegetable gardens extend across the reclaimed land, together with the systematic cultivation of narcissi and anemones.
2. A Canaanite city, conquered by Thutmosia III (inscription no. 25), it is mentioned in the el-'Amāmah letters (Sarōna, 241,4); its geographical location is uncertain, namely whether it corresponds to a city on the coastal plain conquered by Joshua (Ios. 12:18), or to a locality in Galilee between Tabor and the Sea of Tiberias, which retains the name Hirbet Sarūnah, southwest of el-Aḥmah, near which the Jewish colony of Sarona has been re-established.
3. A pastoral region in Transjordan (I Par. 5:16), distinct from Gilead and Bashan, mentioned in the Mesha Stele (line 12), probably synonymous with mīšōr («plain»).