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Bible Dictionaries
Dagon

Smith's Bible Dictionary

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Da'gon. (a fish). Apparently the masculine, 1 Samuel 5:3-4, correlative of Atargatis, was the national god of the Philistines. The most famous temples of Dagon were at Gaza, Judges 16:21-30, and Ashdod. 1 Samuel 5:5-6; 1 Chronicles 10:10. The latter temple was destroyed by Jonathan in the Maccabaean wars.

Traces of the worship of Dagon, likewise, appear in the names Caphar-dagon, (near Jamnia), and Beth-dagon in Judah, Joshua 15:41, and Asher. Joshua 19:27. Dagon was represented with the face and hands of a man and the tail of a fish. 1 Samuel 5:5. The fish-like form was a natural emblem of fruitfulness, and as such was likely to be adopted by seafaring tribes in the representation of their gods.

Bibliography Information
Smith, William, Dr. Entry for 'Dagon'. Smith's Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/​dictionaries/​eng/​sbd/​d/dagon.html. 1901.
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