Dothan in the Bible

DOTHAN IN THE BIBLE

Dothan is first mentioned in the Hebrew Bible (Genesis 37:17) in connection with the history of Joseph, as the place where Jacob’s sons had moved their sheep and where, at the suggestion of Judah, the brothers sold Joseph to the Ishmaelite merchants.

It later appears as the residence of Elisha (2 Kings 6:13) and the scene of a vision of chariots and horses of fire surrounding the mountain on which the city stood. The city served as an Israelite administrative center during this period and archaeology has discovered a large complex and Hebrew inscriptions from the site.

STATUE OF JOSEPH, DOTHAN, ALABAMA

At the Millennium Park in Dothan, Alabama, there is a 10-foot cast bronze sculpture of Joseph. On the base of the statue is the verse, “For I heard them say, let us go to Dothan” (Genesis 37:17). According to local history, this verse inspired city founders in 1885 to change town name from “Poplar Head” to “Dothan.”