What Does “Dagon” Mean in the Bible?
A false god of the Philistines. His statue fell down before the Ark of the Covenant.
Where it appears in the Bible
1 Samuel 5:2-4; Judges 16:23
What the Bible says
1 Samuel 5:2-4
2And the Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it into the temple of Dagon, and set it by Dagon. 3And when the Azotians arose early the next day, behold Dagon lay upon his face on the ground before the ark of the Lord: and they took Dagon, and set him again in his place. 4And the next day again, when they rose in the morning, they found Dagon lying upon his face on the earth before the ark of the Lord: and the head of Dagon, and both the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold:
Judges 16:23
And the princes of the Philistines assembled together, to offer great sacrifices to Dagon their god, and to make merry, saying: Our god hath delivered our enemy Samson into our hands.
Douay-Rheims Bible (Challoner revision), public domain.
Source: 1 Samuel 5:2-4; Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), “Dagon”