What is…
Dagon

also known as: Dagan (the older West Semitic/Akkadian form)

Hebrew: דָּגוֹן —transliteration: Dagon

This is the Hebrew name used to refer to the national god of the Philistines (Judges 16:23). He was considered to be the god of prosperity, “lord of the land,” and the Syrians and others considered him the “father of gods.” He was not a “fish god” or a sea diety, despite later mistaken assumptions in modern times.

It was an Assyrio-Babylonian deity, the worship of which was introduced among the Philistines through Chaldea.

Dagan is attested in texts from Ebla, Mari, and related sites. His main cult centers were Tuttul (Tell Bi‘a) and Terqa, with important worship also at Mari and Emar. He was regarded as a source of royal legitimacy—rulers from Sargon of Akkad onward credited him with granting kingship over the western lands.

The most famous of the temples of Dagon were at Gaza (Judges 16:23-30) and Ashdod (1 Samuel 5:1-7).

In the city of Gaza, Samson pulled down the temple of Dagon and slew “all the lords of the Philistines,” himself also perishing in the ruin (Judges 16:21-30).

In Ashdod, God twice felled the Dagon idol in its temple as the ark of the covenant was displayed before it after capture by the Philistines. God also punished Dagon’s worshipers with emerods (1 Samuel 5:1-12), leaving them quite desperate.

King Saul’s head was displayed in a temple of Dagon (1 Chronicles 10).