Lexical Definition

‎דָּגוֹן‎ Dâgôwn (daw-gohn') Dagon ^N:N-M-T
from ‎דָּג‎; the fish-god

Dagon.

• § Dagon = "a fish"
• Dagon, a Philistine deity

1) a Philistine deity of fertility; represented with the face and hands of a man and the tail of a fish

Brown-Driver-Briggs

‎דָּגוֺן‎ proper name, masculine: 1Sam 5:4 god & idol of Philistines (compare Assyrian Dagan, Dakan(nu), name perhaps non-Shemitic COT Judg 16:23 Dl^{Pa 139} Sayce^Rel. Babylonian 188 f. but see Jen below) **oldest tradition (Jerome) seems to waver between ‎דָּג‎ fish and ‎דָּגָן‎ grain, as explanation of ‎דָּגוֺן‎, see ‎בית‎. — god of Ashdod, except Judg 16:23 (Gaza) & 1Chr 10:10 (but compare below); — ‎דגון אֱלֹהֵיהֶם‎ Judg 16:23 compare ‎דגון אֱלֹהֵינוּ‎ 1Sam 5:7, ‎׳‎‎בֵּית ד‎1Sam 5:2; 1Sam 5:5; 1Chr 10:10 (here hardly original compare || 1Sam 31:10 & We Dr); ‎׳‎‎כֹּהֲנֵי ד‎ 1Sam 5:5, ‎׳‎‎מִפְתַּן ד‎ v1Sam 5:5 as name of image ‎׳‎‎(אֵצֶל) ד‎ v1Sam 5:2 v1Sam 5:3 v1Sam 5:4, ‎דגון נֹפֵל‎ v1Sam 5:3 v1Sam 5:4, ‎נִשְׁאַר עָלָיו‎ ‎׳‎‎רַק ד‎ v1Sam 5:4 (but sense difficult; We proposes ‎דָּגוֺ‎ only his fish, i.e. fishy part, was left upon him, see also Dr; — but was Dagon a fish-god ? compare works cited above & Scholz^{G-tzendienst 238 ff.}, Baud in PRE^{2 iii. 460 ff.} especially Jen^{Kosmol. 449 ff.}) see ‎בֵּית דָּגוֺן‎ p. III.

Brown-Driver-Briggs References