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Bible Dictionaries
Dothan
Fausset's Bible Dictionary
or DOTHAN or DOTHAIN. ("two wells".) At it Joseph was put into a well pit (from whence it derived its name) become dry, and afterward sold to Ishmaelite merchants who traveled that route between Syria and Egypt (Genesis 37:17); near Shechem. Elisha's place of sojourn, when the Syrian king invested the city with horses and chariots, to Gehazi's dismay; but "the mountain" whereon it stood he saw, when the Lord opened his eyes, to be "full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha" (2 Kings 6:13-18). Situated in the center of the country near the S. edge of the Esdraelon plain, from which hills extending from Carmel range separate it. The ruins on a large tell or mound mark the place, Dotan; beneath the S. side is a spring. Close by is an ancient road with massive pavement running N. and S. To this day there are numerous cisterns hewn in the rock, and bottle shaped with hallow mouth, such as egress, would be impossible from without help. Into such a pit doubtless Joseph was cast here.
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Fausset, Andrew R. Entry for 'Dothan'. Fausset's Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/fbd/d/dothan.html. 1949.
