Unto Dagon their god. — Comp. 1 Samuel 5:1-2; 1 Chronicles 10:10. This was the
“ Sea-monster: — upward man,
And downward fish.”
In 1 Samuel 5:4 we have an allusion to his stump or fish-part. Dag means “fish,” and the same root is found in Tagus. A goddess of similar form and attributes was worshipped under the name of Atargatis or Derceto (2Ma. 12:26). How widely the worship was spread we see from the commonness of the name Beth-dagon in the Shephelah (Joshua 15:41). His chief temple at Azotus was burned by Judas Maccabeus (1Ma. 10:83). The only other Philistine god mentioned in Scripture is Baal-zebub, god of Ekron (2 Kings 1:2-16).