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Contemporary English Version

1 Samuel 5:5

This is the reason the priests and everyone else step over that part of the doorway when they enter the temple of Dagon in Ashdod.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Superstition;   Scofield Reference Index - Miracles;   Thompson Chain Reference - Idolatrous;   Leaders;   Priests;   Religious;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Miracle;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Ashdod;   Dagon;   Philistia, philistines;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Priest, Priesthood;   Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Prayer;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Ashdod;   Dagon;   Threshold;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Ashdod;   Dagon;   Pentateuch;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Ark of the Covenant;   Dagon;   Gods, Pagan;   Philistines, the;   Samuel, Books of;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Ashdod;   Philistines;   Samson;   Samuel, Books of;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Ashdod ;   Dagon ;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Ashdod;   Philistia;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Da'gon;   Philis'tines;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Dagon;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Ark of the Covenant;   Dagon;   Elijah;   House;   Kitto Biblical Cyclopedia - Ashdod;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Cherethites;   Dagon;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
That is why, still today, the priests of Dagon and everyone who enters the temple of Dagon in Ashdod do not step on Dagon’s threshold.
Hebrew Names Version
Therefore neither the Kohanim of Dagon, nor any who come into Dagon's house, tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod, to this day.
King James Version
Therefore neither the priests of Dagon, nor any that come into Dagon's house, tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod unto this day.
Lexham English Bible
(Therefore the priests of Dagon and all who come into the house of Dagon do not tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod until this very day.)
English Standard Version
This is why the priests of Dagon and all who enter the house of Dagon do not tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day.
New Century Version
So, even today, Dagon's priests and others who enter his temple at Ashdod refuse to step on the doorsill.
New English Translation
(For this reason, to this very day, neither Dagon's priests nor anyone else who enters Dagon's temple step on Dagon's threshold in Ashdod.)
Amplified Bible
This is the reason neither the priests of Dagon nor any who enter Dagon's house step on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day.
New American Standard Bible
For that reason neither the priests of Dagon nor any who enter Dagon's house step on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day.
Geneva Bible (1587)
Therefore the Priests of Dagon, & all that come into Dagons house tread not on the thresholde of Dagon in Ashdod, vnto this day.
Legacy Standard Bible
Therefore neither the priests of Dagon nor all who enter Dagon's house tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day.
Complete Jewish Bible
This is why, to this day, the priests of Dagon and those entering his temple never walk on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod.
Darby Translation
Therefore neither the priests of Dagon nor any that come into Dagon's house tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day.
Easy-to-Read Version
That is why, even today, the priests or other people refuse to step on the threshold when they enter Dagon's temple at Ashdod.
George Lamsa Translation
Therefore neither the priests of Dagon nor any that enter Dagons house cross the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day.
Good News Translation
(That is why even today the priests of Dagon and all his worshipers in Ashdod step over that place and do not walk on it.)
Literal Translation
On account of this the priests of Dagon, and all those coming into the house of Dagon, do not step on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod until this day.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Therfore the prestes of Dagon, and all they that go in to his house, treade not vpo the threßsholde of Dagon at Aßdod vnto this daye.
American Standard Version
Therefore neither the priests of Dagon, nor any that come into Dagon's house, tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod, unto this day.
Bible in Basic English
So to this day no priest of Dagon, or any who come into Dagon's house, will put his foot on the doorstep of the house of Dagon in Ashdod.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And therfore is it, that the priestes of Dagon, neither any man that commeth into Dagons house, treade not on the thresholde of Dagon in Asdod, vnto this day.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
Therefore neither the priests of Dagon, nor any that come into Dagon's house, tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod unto this day.
King James Version (1611)
Therefore neither the priests of Dagon, nor any that come into Dagons house, tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod vnto this day.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Therefore the priests of Dagon, and every one that enters into the house of Dagon, do not tread upon the threshold of the house of Dagon in Azotus until this day, for they step over.
English Revised Version
Therefore neither the priests of Dagon, nor any that come into Dagon’s house, tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod, unto this day.
Berean Standard Bible
That is why, to this day, the priests of Dagon and all who enter the temple of Dagon in Ashdod do not step on the threshold.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
certis the stok aloone of Dagon lefte in his place. For this cause the preestis of Dagon, and alle that entren in to his temple, treden not on the threisfold of Dagon in Azotus til in to this dai.
Young's Literal Translation
therefore the priests of Dagon, and all those coming into the house of Dagon, tread not on the threshold of Dagon, in Ashdod, till this day.
Update Bible Version
Therefore neither the priests of Dagon, nor any that come into Dagon's house, tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod, to this day.
Webster's Bible Translation
Therefore neither the priests of Dagon, nor any that come into Dagon's house, tread on the threshhold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day.
World English Bible
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.
New King James Version
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.
New Living Translation
That is why to this day neither the priests of Dagon nor anyone who enters the temple of Dagon in Ashdod will step on its threshold.
New Life Bible
So the religious leaders of Dagon and all who go into Dagon's house do not step on the bottom part of the doorway in Ashdod to this day.
New Revised Standard
This is why the priests of Dagon and all who enter the house of Dagon do not step on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
For this cause, do not the priests of Dagon, nor any that enter into the house of Dagon, tread upon the threshold of Dagon, in Ashdod, - until this day.
Douay-Rheims Bible
And only the stump of Dagon remained in its place. For this cause neither the priests of Dagon, nor any that go into the temple, tread on the threshold of Dagon in Azotus unto this day.
Revised Standard Version
This is why the priests of Dagon and all who enter the house of Dagon do not tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
Therefore neither the priests of Dagon nor all who enter Dagon's house tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day.

Contextual Overview

1 The Philistines took the sacred chest from near Ebenezer to the town of Ashdod. 2 They brought it into the temple of their god Dagon and put it next to the statue of Dagon, which they worshiped. 3 When the people of Ashdod got up early the next morning, they found the statue lying facedown on the floor in front of the sacred chest. They put the statue back where it belonged. 4 But early the next morning, it had fallen over again and was lying facedown on the floor in front of the chest. The body of the statue was still in one piece, but its head and both hands had broken off and were lying on the stone floor in the doorway. 5 This is the reason the priests and everyone else step over that part of the doorway when they enter the temple of Dagon in Ashdod.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

neither: Psalms 115:4-7, Psalms 135:15-18

tread: Joshua 5:15, Zephaniah 1:9

Reciprocal: Genesis 32:32 - eat not Exodus 20:23 - General

Cross-References

Genesis 3:19
You will have to sweat to earn a living; you were made out of soil, and you will once again turn into soil."
Genesis 5:7
Seth had more children
Genesis 5:8
and died at the age of nine hundred twelve.
Genesis 5:10
Enosh had more children
Genesis 5:11
and died at the age of nine hundred five.
Genesis 5:12
When Kenan was seventy, he had a son named Mahalalel.
Genesis 5:14
and died at the age of nine hundred ten.
Genesis 5:21
When Enoch was sixty-five, he had a son named Methuselah,
Genesis 5:22
and during the next three hundred years he had more children. Enoch truly loved God,
Genesis 5:32
After Noah was five hundred years old, he had three sons and named them Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Therefore neither the priests of Dagon, nor any that come into Dagon's house,.... Neither the priests that continually attended the worship and service of Dagon, nor the people that came there to pay their devotions to him:

tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod unto this day: but used to leap over it, either reckoning it sacred because touched by their idol, which fell upon it; or rather, as it should seem, in a way of detestation, because it had been the means of cutting off the head and hands of their idol; and this custom not only continued to the latter days of Samuel, the writer of this book; but even among the Philistines in one place or another to the times of Zephaniah, who seems to allude to it, Zephaniah 1:9. In later times there was another deity worshipped at Ashdod; according to Masius s, the Philistine Venus, or Astarte, was worshipped in this place; though perhaps she may be no other than Atergatis, or Adergatis, which with Selden t is only a corruption of Addir-dag, the magnificent fish, in which form Dagon is supposed to be; so the Phoenician goddess Derceto, worshipped at Ashkelon had the face of a woman, and the other part was all fish; though Ben Gersom says Dagon was in the form of a man, and which is confirmed by the Complutensian edition of the Septuagint, which on 1 Samuel 5:4 reads, "the soles of his feet were cut off"; which is a much better reading than the common one, "the soles of his hands", which is not sense; by which it appears that he had head, hands, and feet; wherefore it seems most likely that he had his name from Dagon, signifying corn:

1 Samuel 5:4- :.

s Comment. in Jos. xv. 47. t De Dis. Syr. Syntagu. l. 2. c. 3. p. 267.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

This custom still existed among the worshippers of Dagon so late as the reign of Josiah (see the marginal reference).

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Samuel 5:5. Tread on the threshold — Because the arms, c., of Dagon were broken off by his fall on the threshold, the threshold became sacred, and neither his priests nor worshippers ever tread on the threshold. Thus it was ordered, in the Divine providence, that, by a religious custom of their own, they should perpetuate their disgrace, the insufficiency of their worship, and the superiority of the God of Israel.

It is supposed that the idolatrous Israelites, in the time of Zephaniah, had adopted the worship of Dagon: and that in this sense 1 Samuel 1:9 is to be understood: In the same day will I punish all those who leap upon the threshold. In order to go into such temples, and not tread on the threshold, the people must step or leap over them and in this way the above passage may be understood. Indeed, the thresholds of the temples in various places were deemed so sacred that the people were accustomed to fall down and kiss them. When Christianity became corrupted, this adoration of the thresholds of the churches took place.


 
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