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Dagon (Demon, Idol Worship by the Philistines, West Semetic Deity)
Meaning
Dagon was a false god worshipped throughout Mesopotamia and Canaan, starting around the third century BC. Within the city state of Urgarit, Dagon appears in their list of gods as the third most powerful false-god. Ugarit was an important seaport city in the Northern Levant. There is some debate among Bible scholars as to the type of false-god he was. Because of the root word “dag” as part of the name many think he was a type of fish-god. However, modern day scholars believe he may have been a storm-god. Others think Dagon may have been associated somehow with Baal the primary false-god.
We see Dagon in the Old Testament as one of the primary gods of the Philistines. The Philistines were a group of people who lived along the coast of what is today modern Israel. If we recall the famous fight between David and Goliath. Goliath was a giant and he was a soldier in the Philistine army who came out to battle Saul the first king of Israel. The Philistines were one of the Canaanite peoples who often troubled the Israelites. In one battle the Philistines defeated Israel and captured the Ark of the Covenant. God, however, used this event to show the Philistines that the God of Israel was the true and living God. After placing the Ark of the Covenant within the temple of Dagon, God destroyed the statue of the idol and plagued the Philistines. So much so they returned the Ark of the Covenant with a trespass offering. and an apology to the God of Israel.
“Now the lords of the Philistines gathered together to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god, and to rejoice. And they said: ‘Our god has delivered into our hands Samson our enemy'” (Book of Judges 16:23)
“When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the temple of Dagon and set it by Dagon. nd when the people of Ashdod arose early in the morning, there was Dagon, fallen on its face to the earth before the ark of the Lord. So they took Dagon and set it in its place again. And when they arose early the next morning, there was Dagon, fallen on its face to the ground before the ark of the Lord. The head of Dagon and both the palms of its hands were broken off on the threshold; only Dagon’s torso was left of it. Therefore neither the priests of Dagon nor any who come into Dagon’s house tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day. But the hand of the Lord was heavy on the people of Ashdod, and He ravaged them and struck them with tumors, both Ashdod and its territory. And when the men of Ashdod saw how it was, they said, ‘The ark of the God of Israel must not remain with us, for His hand is harsh toward us and Dagon our god.’ Therefore they sent and gathered to themselves all the lords of the Philistines, and said, ‘What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel?’ And they answered, ‘Let the ark of the God of Israel be carried away to Gath.’ So they carried the ark of the God of Israel away.” (Book of 1st Samuel 5:2-8)