Dor

Dor was a Canaanite town on the coast, and it shows up in lists of what Israel did and did not take. Joshua 12:23 counts “the king of Dor” among the rulers who were defeated. Yet Joshua 17:11 and Judges 1:27 both say that Manasseh had towns in the region, including Dor, and could not drive out the people living there. In Judges the reason given is that “the Canaanites would dwell in that land.” So Dor stands as a small reminder that the conquest was left unfinished. Judges 1:27-28 is a good place to read.

3 verses

Joshua

Joshua 12:23

The king of Dor in the coast of Dor, one; the king of the nations of Gilgal, one;

Joshua 17:11

And Manasseh had in Issachar and in Asher Bethshean and her towns, and Ibleam and her towns, and the inhabitants of Dor and her towns, and the inhabitants of Endor and her towns, and the inhabitants of Taanach and her towns, and the inhabitants of Megiddo and her towns, even three countries.

Judges

Judges 1:27

Neither did Manasseh drive out the inhabitants of Bethshean and her towns, nor Taanach and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Dor and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Ibleam and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Megiddo and her towns: but the Canaanites would dwell in that land.

From Easton's Bible Dictionary

Matthew George Easton, 1897

Dwelling, the Dora of the Romans, an ancient royal city of the Canaanites (Josh. 11:1, 2; 12:23). It was the most southern settlement of the Phoenicians on the coast of Syria. The original inhabitants seem never to have been expelled, although they were made tributary by David. It was one of Solomon’s commissariat districts (Judg. 1:27; 1 Kings 4:11). It has been identified with Tantura (so named from the supposed resemblance of its tower to a tantur, i.e., “a horn”). This tower fell in 1895, and nothing remains but debris and foundation walls, the remains of an old Crusading fortress. It is about 8 miles north of Caesarea, “a sad and sickly hamlet of wretched huts on a naked sea-beach.”

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From Smith's Bible Dictionary

William Smith, 1884

(dwelling), (Joshua 17:11; 1 Kings 4:11) an ancient royal city of the Canaanites, (Joshua 12:23) whose ruler was an ally of Jabin king of Hazor against Joshua. (Joshua 11:1,2) It appears to have been within the territory of the tribe of Asher, though allotted to Manasseh, (Joshua 17:11; Judges 1:27) Solomon stationed at Dor one of his twelve purveyors. (1 Kings 4:11) jerome places it on the coast, "in the ninth mile from Caesarea, on the way to Ptolemais." Just at the point indicated is the small village of Tantura , probably an Arab corruption of Dora , consisting of about thirty houses, wholly constructed of ancient materials.