The suburbs of Sharon - There were three places of this name: that mentioned here was a district in the country of Bashan beyond Jordan, (see Joshua 12:18); there was another that lay between Caesarea of Palestine and Joppa; and there was a third between Mount Tabor and the Sea of Tiberias. See Calmet.

And they dwelt in Gilead,.... In that part of it which belonged to the tribe of Gad:

in Bashan, and in her towns; See Gill on 1 Chronicles 5:11,

and in all the suburbs of Sharon, upon their borders; there were two Sharons, one to the west of the land of Israel near the Mediterranean sea, which is mentioned in Acts 9:35 as near Lydda and Joppa; and the other to the east or northeast, beyond Jordan, which is here meant.

The families descended from Buz "dwelt in Gilead," in the part of that district lying to the south of the Jabbok, which Moses had given to the Gadites and Reubenites (Deuteronomy 3:12); "In Bashan and her daughters," that is, in the villages belonging to the cities of Bashan and Gilead inhabited by them (for the suffix in בּבנותיה is to be referred distributively to both districts, or the cities in them). "And in all the pasture grounds (מגרשׁ, cf. on Numbers 35:2) of Sharon unto their outgoings." שׁרון, Sharon, lay not in Perea, but is a great plain on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from Carmel to near Joppa, famed for its great fertility and its rich growth of flowers (Sol 2:1; Isaiah 33:9; Isaiah 35:2; Isaiah 55:10). "A Caesarea Palaestinae usque ad oppidum Joppe omnis terra, quae cernitur, dicitur Saronas." Jerome in Onom.; cf. v. Raumer, Pal. S. 50, and Robins. Phys. Geog. S. 123. It is this plain which is here meant, and the supposition of the older commentators that there was a second Sharon in the east-Jordan land is without foundation, as Reland, Palestina illustr. p. 370f., has correctly remarked. For it is not said that the Gadites possessed cities in Sharon, but only pastures of Sharon are spoken of, which the Gadites may have sought out for their herds even on the coast of the Mediterranean; more especially as the domain of the cis-Jordanic half-tribe of Manasseh stretched into the plain of Sharon, and it is probable that at all times there was intercourse between the cis-and trans-Jordanic Manassites, in which the Gadites may also have taken part. תּוצאותם are the outgoings of the pastures to the sea, cf. Joshua 17:9.

And they dwelt in Gilead in {f} Bashan, and in her towns, and in all the suburbs of Sharon, upon their borders.

(f) Both the whole country and one particular city were called Bashan.

their...: Heb. their goings forth

16. Sharon-The term "Sharon" was applied as descriptive of any place of extraordinary beauty and productiveness. There were three places in Palestine so called. This Sharon lay east of the Jordan.

upon their borders-that is, of Gilead and Bashan: Gilead proper, or at least the largest part, belonged to the Reubenites; and Bashan, the greatest portion of it, belonged to the Manassites. The Gadites occupied an intermediate settlement on the land which lay upon their borders.

5:1-26 Genealogies. - This chapter gives some account of the two tribes and a half seated on the east side of Jordan. They were made captives by the king of Assyria, because they had forsaken the Lord. Only two things are here recorded concerning these tribes. 1. They all shared in a victory. Happy is that people who live in harmony together, who assist each other against the common enemies of their souls, trusting in the Lord, and calling upon him. 2. They shared in captivity. They would have the best land, not considering that it lay most exposed. The desire of earthly objects draws to a distance from God's ordinances, and prepares men for destruction.