Story of Dothan

 So in verse 17, ten of the brothers are hangin' out in Dothan, killin' time plotting Joseph's fate. They'd decided to kill him, bury the body and tell Daddy that an animal ate little Joe, the Dreamer. Brother Reuben thought that idea was too much trouble because they have to dispose of the body.(Verse 21 and 22 "And Reuben heard it, and delivered him out of their hands; and said, Let us not kill him. And Reuben said unto them, Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit in the wilderness, and lay no hand upon him; that he might rid him out of their hands, to deliver him to his father again.) So they let Joe live and when this caravan of Ishmeelites showed up in Dothan, brother Judah introduced the profit-motive into the plot in Verse 26 "And Judah said unto his brethren, What profit is it if we slay our brother, and conceal his blood?" so in Verse 28 Joe gets his ticket to Egypt. "Then there passed by Midianites, merchant-men; and they drew and lifted up Joseph to the Ishmeelites for twenty pieces of silver: and they brought Joseph to Egypt." Here's what my great-great grandfather, Geneva's Young Register's 1834 Commentary says about Verse 28: "Verse 28. FOR TWENTY PIECES OF SILVER] This, I think, is the first instance on record of selling a man for a slave; but the practice certainly did not commence now; it had doubtless been in use long before. Instead of pieces, which our translators supply, the Persian has miskal, which was probably intended to signify a shekel, and if shekels be intended, taking them at three shillings each; Joseph was sold for about three pound sterling. I have known a whole cargo of slaves, amounting to eight hundred and thirteen, bought by a slave captain in Bonny river, in Africa, on an average for six pounds each; and this payment was made in guns, gunpowder and trinkets! As there were only ten of the brethren present, and they sold Joseph for twenty shekels, each had two shekels as his share in this most infamous transaction."

 

 Why name a place "Dothan"?

It was a name for a post office that existed before the Civil War. It got reestablished in 1872 and was probably over in the old Geneva County portion of Houston County which was annexed in 1903. When the area around the Poplar Head spring started to build up in anticipation of the railroad, they moved the post office to Poplar Head and decided to incorporate using an established post office's name. So knowing that it was a Biblical name and that it was really spelled D-O-T-H-A-N, the guys around Poplar Head spring spelled it right on their incorporation papers. Everything was supposed to be cool. Then they find out that some moron somewhere misspelled the name in 1872 so in POST OFFICE LANGUAGE the town was spelled DOTHEN. So that led to the confusion that wasn't corrected until 1897 but lasted forever because of publications, time tables, maps, etc. The lesson of Joseph and slavery was real sensitive issue in the piney woods so that was an important Bible lesson from waaaaaaaaaay back.