Dagon — Who Were the Philistines Worshipping?

The God of the Philistines

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When Samson stood blind in the temple at Gaza, the whole crowd was celebrating a god named Dagon. Who was Dagon, and why does it matter?

The Philistines. The Philistines lived along the seacoast of Canaan in five main cities: Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Gath and Ekron. Each city had its own lord. In Samson's day they ruled over Israel. The men of Judah even said to Samson, “Do you not know that the Philistines rule over us?” (Judges 15:11).

Their chief god. Dagon was the main god of the Philistines. They built temples for him in Gaza and in Ashdod (1 Samuel 5:2).

A god of grain. Dagon's name sounds like the Hebrew word for grain. People most likely prayed to him for good harvests and full barns.

An older god. Long before the Philistines arrived, people in Syria worshiped a god called Dagan. When the Philistines settled in Canaan, they took him as their own.

A statue, not a person. Dagon was a statue made by people. “Their idols are silver and gold, The work of men’s hands” (Psalm 115:4).

Eyes that cannot see. “They have mouths, but they do not speak; Eyes they have, but they do not see” (Psalm 115:5). Dagon could not see Samson, and he could not hear the songs sung to him.

The big feast. The lords gathered “to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god, and to rejoice” (Judges 16:23). They thought Dagon had beaten Samson and Israel's God.

The wrong answer. Dagon did not catch Samson. Samson's own sin did, and the Lord allowed it. When Samson broke his vow, “the Lord had departed from him” (Judges 16:20).

Who really won. When Samson prayed, the Lord brought down Dagon's temple in one moment (Judges 16:30). Dagon could not even protect his own house.

None like the Lord. “Among the gods there is none like You, O Lord; Nor are there any works like Your works” (Psalm 86:8).

Like what they worship. “Those who make them are like them; So is everyone who trusts in them” (Psalm 115:8). People slowly become like whatever they love most. Idol worshipers become blind and deaf to God.

The living God. The Lord sees, hears, speaks and acts. “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (John 17:3). God sent Jesus so that we could know Him.

What we learn. Dagon was a statue on a stand, but our God is alive. He heard Samson's cry, and He hears yours.

What to do. This week, thank God each day that He sees you and hears you. Tell Him one thing you need.

In Judges 16 the Philistines thank Dagon for Samson's capture. Knowing who Dagon was shows what was really at stake in the temple at Gaza: the honor of the Lord's name.

Five cities. The Philistines held five cities on the southern coast, Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Gath and Ekron, each ruled by a lord. The Hebrew word for these lords, seren (say: SEH-ren), is used only for Philistine rulers. The lords each promised Delilah eleven hundred pieces of silver to betray Samson (Judges 16:5).

Dagan of Syria. Clay tablets from Mari and Ugarit in Syria name a god called Dagan, centuries before Samson. The texts from Ugarit even call the storm god Baal the son of Dagan. The Philistines took up this older god of the land.

Grain. The Hebrew word dagan (say: dah-GAHN) means grain. Dagon was most likely honored as the god who sent harvests. That made the feast at Gaza a bitter scene: Samson, Israel's judge, had been forced to grind grain in prison.

Gods and battles. In the ancient world a war between nations was counted as a war between their gods. Capturing an enemy champion proved your god was stronger. So the song of 16:24 was a claim that Dagon had beaten the Lord.

The Lord answers. The Lord had answered a claim like this before: “against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord” (Exodus 12:12). The plagues judged Egypt's gods; the fall of the temple at Gaza judged Dagon.

Psalm 115. The psalm mocks idols that have eyes but cannot see. The Philistines had taken away Samson's eyes, and their own god had never had any sight at all.

Becoming like an idol. “Those who make them are like them” (Psalm 115:8). Paul describes the same slide: people “changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man” (Romans 1:23).

The Lord above all gods. “For I know that the Lord is great, And our Lord is above all gods” (Psalm 135:5). There is no contest between the Creator and a statue made from what He created.

One God and one Lord. “Yet for us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 8:6). The living God has made Himself known in His Son.

Application. God defended His own name at Gaza. He still calls people everywhere to turn from what cannot save: “Look to Me, and be saved, All you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other” (Isaiah 45:22).

The Day Dagon Fell Down

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The temple at Gaza was not the last time Dagon met the Lord. Years later, in the days of Samuel, it happened again, in another Philistine city.

The ark taken. The Philistines beat Israel in battle and captured the ark of God, the gold chest that stood for God's presence with His people (1 Samuel 4:11).

Beside Dagon. They carried the ark to Ashdod and set it in Dagon's temple, right beside his statue (1 Samuel 5:1-2). They thought Israel's God was now Dagon's prisoner.

Face down. Early the next morning, Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground in front of the ark of the Lord (1 Samuel 5:3).

Broken. The priests set him up again. The next morning he had fallen again, and his head and both hands were broken off (1 Samuel 5:4).

A helpless god. People had to pick Dagon up off the floor. The Lord never needs anyone to stand Him up. He holds everything up.

No one like Him. “Who is like You, O Lord, among the gods?” (Exodus 15:11). No one is. The Lord is holy, and He does wonders no statue could ever do.

Idols today. Most people today do not bow to stone statues. But anything we love and trust more than God becomes an idol. The Bible even calls greed idolatry: “covetousness, which is idolatry” (Colossians 3:5).

Modern idols. Money, being popular, winning, a game or a screen can slowly become the thing we live for. None of them can hear us when we pray.

Keep away. John ended a letter with these words: “Little children, keep yourselves from idols” (1 John 5:21).

The true image. People carve images of false gods. God gave us His own true image: Jesus, “the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15).

Every knee. One day “at the name of Jesus every knee should bow” (Philippians 2:10). Every idol will fall down before Him, the way Dagon fell before the ark.

Jesus wins. At the cross Jesus defeated every power that holds people captive: “He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it” (Colossians 2:15). Then He rose from the dead.

What we learn. Idols always fall. Jesus is Lord forever.

What to do. Ask God to show you anything you love more than Him. Tell Him you want Him first, and thank Jesus that He is the true King.

First Samuel 5 tells of a second meeting between Dagon and the Lord. This time there was no judge in the temple, only the ark of the covenant, and the statue fell on its face.

The ark captured (1 Samuel 4:11). Israel carried the ark into battle as if it were a lucky charm, and the Philistines captured it. God allowed it; He would not be used as a tool.

A trophy for Dagon (1 Samuel 5:1-2). The Philistines placed the ark beside Dagon in Ashdod, the way armies displayed the gods of defeated nations in their own temples.

Bowing (5:3). The next morning Dagon was lying face down before the ark, the posture of a servant bowing to his master. The supposed winner was bowing to the supposed loser.

Head and hands (5:4). The second morning, his head and the palms of his hands were cut off and lying on the threshold. Head and hands stand for thinking and doing; Dagon could do neither.

Two meetings. At Gaza the Lord brought down Dagon's house through Samson's last prayer. At Ashdod He did it with no human help at all. The living God defends His own glory.

Idolatry is a heart problem. Colossians 3:5 names “covetousness, which is idolatry.” Pleonexia (say: pleh-oh-nek-SEE-ah) means always wanting more. An idol is anything we trust to give us what only God can give.

Matthew 6:24. “No one can serve two masters… You cannot serve God and mammon.” Mammon means money and possessions. A divided heart cannot worship well.

The true image. Idols are images made like people and animals (Romans 1:23). Christ is “the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15). The image people carve is dead; the Image God gave is alive.

The final bow. “At the name of Jesus every knee should bow… and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord” (Philippians 2:10-11). Dagon's fall on his face is a small preview of that day.

Application. Ask what you look to for comfort, safety or worth. Bring those things to Jesus and let Him have first place. “Little children, keep yourselves from idols” (1 John 5:21).

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