A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W XY Z

Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary

Intro ← Index → ©

DOTHAN

Ancient city located about 60 miles (97 kilometers) north of Jerusalem, 13 miles (21 kilometers) north of the city of Samaria, and about 5 miles (8 kilometers) southeast of Megiddo. The two cities of En-gannim (modern Jenin) and Ibleam guarded a narrow pass on the road leading to Dothan and on to the coastal plain.

The mound of Tell Dotha, site of Dothan, rises 200 feet (61 meters) above the surrounding plain to a height of 1,200 feet (365.6 meters) above sea level. The top of the mound comprises some 10 acres (4 hectares). From there one can look out upon fertile land boasting good crops. Flocks pasture here as they did in biblical times, drawn to the area in part by the adequate water supplied by its springs.

Dothan was the place where Joseph’s brothers sold him to a caravan of Ishmaelites (Gn 37). A millennium later the city was surrounded by Syrian forces in an attempt to capture Elisha, who lived there and who was thought to be betraying the Syrian plans to the Israelite king (2 Kgs 6:8-14). Dothan was mentioned also in the lists of places conquered by Pharaoh Thutmose III and, in the intertestamental period, in connection with the military campaigns of Holofernes.