Dagon

From Bible Exegesis

Little fish; diminutive from dag = a fish, the fish-god; the national god of the Philistines (Jdg_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 (Jdg_16:23-30) and Ashdod (1Sa_5:1-7). (See FISH.)

da´gon (דּגון, dāghon; apparently derived from דּג, dāgh, “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 (Jdg 16) but elsewhere with Ashdod (compare 1Sa_5:1-12 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 miphtān (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 (דּגו, dāghō, “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 miphtān of Dagon. See 1Sa_5:1-5. The prophet Zephaniah (Zep_1:9) speaks of an idolatrous practice which consisted in leaping over the miphtāň. 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.