Dothan
“Two cisterns or wells”
Summary
A place in central Palestine where Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers, and where Elisha's servant saw the mountain filled with horses and chariots of fire.
☩Joseph at Dothan
Jacob's sons had moved their flocks from Shechem to find better pasture at Dothan. When Joseph came seeking them, they plotted to kill him but instead cast him into a dry cistern pit—the place's name means 'two cisterns.' Ishmaelite merchants traveling the trade route from Gilead to Egypt passed by, and Joseph was sold to them for twenty pieces of silver. The excellent pasturage of the Dothan plain and its location on the main caravan route explain both the brothers' presence and the merchants' timely appearance.
☩Elisha's Vision
Centuries later, the prophet Elisha resided at Dothan when the Syrian king sent horses, chariots, and a great host by night to capture him. When Elisha's servant rose early and saw the city surrounded, he cried out in fear. Elisha prayed that his eyes might be opened, and the servant saw the mountain full of horses and chariots of fire surrounding Elisha. The prophet then struck the Syrian army with blindness and led them to Samaria.
☩Location
Dothan lay in a beautiful plain southwest of Jenin, about twelve Roman miles north of Samaria according to Eusebius. The site, still called Tell Dothan, shows traces of ancient buildings and—significantly—numerous bottle-shaped cisterns hewn in rock, from which the ancient name derived. An ancient paved road runs through the area, marking the trade route Joseph's purchasers traveled toward Egypt.
References
- 1.James Orr (ed.), "Dothan," in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol. II (Howard-Severance Company, 1915).
- 2.F. N. Peloubet & M. A. Peloubet (ed.), "Dothan," in Smith's Bible Dictionary (Porter & Coates, 1884).
- 3.Andrew Robert Fausset, "Dothan," in The Englishman's Critical and Expository Bible Cyclopædia (Hodder & Stoughton, 1878).