Dagon

Dagon is the chief god of the Philistines, with temples at Ashdod and elsewhere on the coastal plain. Three episodes anchor what UPDV says about him: the cult of Dagon takes credit for Samson's capture, then humiliates itself before the captured ark of Yahweh at Ashdod, and finally takes Saul's severed head as a trophy after Mount Gilboa.

Sacrifice for Samson's capture

After Samson is delivered to the Philistines blind and bound, the rulers stage a thanksgiving rite to Dagon: "And the lords of the Philistines gathered together to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god, and to rejoice; for they said, Our god has delivered Samson our enemy into our hand" (Jud 16:23). The crowd takes up the same refrain — "Our god has delivered into our hand our enemy" (Jud 16:24) — before bringing Samson out for sport. The Dagon-temple becomes the stage for the closing reversal: Samson stands between its two middle pillars, calls on Yahweh, and pulls the house down on the assembled lords (Jud 16:28-30). The sacrificial gathering for Dagon ends with Dagon's house in rubble.

Dagon falls before the ark

After Israel's defeat at Eben-ezer, the Philistines carry the ark in triumph and set it inside Dagon's temple at Ashdod: "Now the Philistines had taken the ark of God, and they brought it from Eben-ezer to Ashdod. And the Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon" (1Sa 5:1-2). The next morning the image is on the floor: "And those of Ashdod arose early on the next day, and saw Dagon fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of Yahweh. And they took Dagon, and set him in his place again" (1Sa 5:3). The second morning leaves the image broken: "And they arose early in the morning on the next day, and saw Dagon fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of Yahweh; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands [lay] cut off on the threshold; only [the stump of] Dagon was left to him" (1Sa 5:4). The narrator notes the lasting practice this produced at the Dagon-temple: "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" (1Sa 5:5).

The contest does not end at the temple. Yahweh's hand falls heavy on Ashdod with tumors (1Sa 5:6), and the Ashdodites confess the cause: "The ark of the God of Israel will not remain with us; for his hand is intense on us, and on Dagon our god" (1Sa 5:7). The ark is sent on to Gath and then Ekron, plagues following with it (1Sa 5:8-12). Dagon cannot keep his own threshold, and the cult of Dagon cannot keep the ark.

Saul's head in the Dagon-temple

After the rout on Mount Gilboa, the Philistines display Saul's spoils in their sanctuaries: "And they put his armor in the house of their gods, and fastened his head in the house of Dagon" (1Ch 10:10). The Dagon-temple becomes the trophy-house — the parallel to where the ark had once been set, now displaying an Israelite king's head.