Dor
“Dwelling or habitation”
Summary
An ancient Canaanite royal city on the Mediterranean coast south of Mount Carmel, which the Israelites failed to fully conquer.
☩Location and History
Dor was an ancient maritime city on the Mediterranean coast, about nine miles north of Caesarea on the route to Ptolemais. It was probably the most southern settlement of the Phoenicians, valued for the abundant shell-fish from which they obtained purple dye. The king of Dor joined the alliance with Jabin of Hazor against Joshua, but was defeated. Though within the territory of Asher, it was allotted to Manasseh.
☩Incomplete Conquest
Despite Joshua's victory, the Israelites never fully expelled the Canaanite inhabitants of Dor. During the prosperous reigns of David and Solomon, the original population was made tributary rather than displaced. Solomon stationed one of his twelve purveyors at Dor to supply provisions for the royal household. The city remained important through the intertestamental period, when Tryphon, murderer of Jonathan Maccabaeus, sought refuge there.
Related Verses9 mentions
References
- 1.John McClintock and James Strong, "Dor," in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. II (Harper & Brothers, 1867–1887).
- 2.F. N. Peloubet & M. A. Peloubet (ed.), "Dor," in Smith's Bible Dictionary (Porter & Coates, 1884).
- 3.George Morrish, "Dor," in Morrish's Concise Bible Dictionary (George Morrish, 1898).
- 4.Andrew Robert Fausset, "Dor," in The Englishman's Critical and Expository Bible Cyclopædia (Hodder & Stoughton, 1878).