(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.
little fish; diminutive from dag = a fish, the fish-god; the national god of the Philistines (Judg. 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 (Judg. 16:23-30) and Ashdod (1 Sam. 5:1-7). (See FISH.)
(1 Sam. 5:2), or Beth-dagon, as elsewhere rendered (Josh.15: 41; 19:27), was the sanctuary or temple of Dagon. The Beth-dagon of Josh. 15:41 was one of the cities of the tribe of Judah, in the lowland or plain which stretches westward. It has not been identified. The Beth-dagon of Josh. 19:27 was one of the border cities of Asher. That of 1 Chr. 10:10 was in the western half-tribe of Manasseh, where the Philistines, after their victory at Gilboa, placed Saul's head in the temple of their god. (Comp. 1 Sam. 31:8-13).
