Topic
Dagon
19 passages cited, from 4 classic reference works.
These works date from 1884–1915 and are in the public domain. They reflect the Protestant scholarship of their time: their history, archaeology and dates can be out of date, and where they interpret, other traditions read the text differently. The verses are shown in the King James Version, the wording these works were written against.
The verses
The passages the works cite, those cited by more of them first.
- 1 Chronicles 10:10Smith · ISBE · Nave Temple of
And they put his armour in the house of their gods, and fastened his head in the temple of Dagon.
- Judges 16:23Easton · Nave An idol of the Philistines
Then the lords of the Philistines gathered them together for to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their god, and to rejoice: for they said, Our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand.
- 1 Samuel 5:1–12ISBE · Nave An idol of the Philistines
And the Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it from Eben-ezer unto Ashdod. When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon. ¶ And when they of Ashdod arose early on the morrow, behold, Dagon…
- Joshua 15:41Smith
And Gederoth, Beth-dagon, and Naamah, and Makkedah; sixteen cities with their villages:
- Joshua 19:27Smith
And turneth toward the sunrising to Beth-dagon, and reacheth to Zebulun, and to the valley of Jiphthah-el toward the north side of Beth-emek, and Neiel, and goeth out to Cabul on the left hand,
- Judges 16:1–31ISBE
Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there an harlot, and went in unto her. And it was told the Gazites, saying, Samson is come hither. And they compassed him in, and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying,…
- Judges 16:21–30Smith
¶ But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house. Howbeit the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven. Then the lords of the…
- Judges 16:23–30Easton
Then the lords of the Philistines gathered them together for to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their god, and to rejoice: for they said, Our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand. And when the people saw him, they praised their god: for…
- 1 Samuel 5:1–7Easton
And the Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it from Eben-ezer unto Ashdod. When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon. ¶ And when they of Ashdod arose early on the morrow, behold, Dagon…
- 1 Samuel 5:1–5ISBE
And the Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it from Eben-ezer unto Ashdod. When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon. ¶ And when they of Ashdod arose early on the morrow, behold, Dagon…
- 1 Samuel 5:3Smith
¶ And when they of Ashdod arose early on the morrow, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the earth before the ark of the LORD. And they took Dagon, and set him in his place again.
- 1 Samuel 5:4Smith
And when they arose early on the morrow morning, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of the LORD; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold; only the stump of Dagon was left to him.
Show 7 more
- 1 Samuel 5:5 Smith
- 1 Samuel 5:6 Smith
- 1 Samuel 31:10 ISBE
- Isaiah 46:1 ISBE
- Zephaniah 1:9 ISBE
- 1 Maccabees 10:83 ISBE
- 1 Maccabees 11:4 ISBE
In the reference works
Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897) · 3 references
Little fish; diminutive from dag = a fish, the fish-god; the national god of the Philistines (Judg. 16:23). This idol had the body of a fish with the head and hands of a man. It was an Assyrio-Babylonian deity, the worship of which was introduced among the Philistines through Chaldea. The most famous of the temples of Dagon were at Gaza (Judg. 16:23-30) and Ashdod (1 Sam. 5:1-7). (See FISH.)
Smith's Bible Dictionary (1884) · 9 references
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915) · 9 references
da'-gon (daghon; apparently derived from dagh, "fish"): Name of the god of the Philistines (according to Jerome on Isa 46:1 of the Philistines generally); in the Bible, Dagon is associated with Gaza (Jud 16) but elsewhere with Ashdod (compare 1Sa 5 and 1 Macc 10:83 f; 11:4); in 1Ch 10:10 there is probably an error (compare the passage 1Sa 31:10). The god had his temple ("the house of Dagon") and his priests. When the ark was captured by the Philistines, it was conducted to Ashdod where it was placed in the house of Dagon by the side of the idol. But on the morrow it was found that the idol lay prostrate before the ark of the Lord. It was restored to its place; but on the following day Dagon again lay on the ground before the ark, this time with the head and both hands severed from the body and lying upon the miphtan (the word is commonly interpreted to mean "threshold"; according to Winckler, it means "pedestal"); the body alone remained intact. The Hebrew says: "Dagon alone remained." Whether we resort to an emendation (dagho, "his fish-part") or not, commentators appear to be right in inferring that the idol was half-man, half-fish. Classic authors give this form to Derceto. The sacred writer adds that from that time on the priests of Dagon and all those that entered the house of Dagon refrained from stepping upon the miphtan of Dagon. See 1Sa 5:1-5. The prophet Zephaniah (Ze 1:9) speaks of an idolatrous practice which consisted in leaping over the miphtan. The Septuagint in 1 Samuel indeed adds the clause: "but they were accustomed to leap." Leaping over the threshold was probably a feature of the Philistine ritual which the Hebrews explained in their way. A god Dagon seems to have been worshipped by the Canaanites; see BETH-DAGON.
LITERATURE
Commentaries on Judges and 1 Samuel; Winckler, Altoriental. Forschungen, III, 383.
Max L. Margolis
In the topical indexes
Texts: Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897); Smith's Bible Dictionary (1884); International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915); Nave's Topical Bible (1896), from the CrossWire SWORD modules (public domain). Verse references were parsed from the works' own markup and checked against the KJV verse list.