He was chief god to the Philistines, the coastal people who were such a menace to Israel. His name means “fish,” and he was probably shown in statues as a “mer-man”—half man, half fish.
The Israelite strongman Samson’s last act was to tear down Dagon’s temple, killing many Philistines (and himself ) in the process.
Later, the Philistines captured the Israelites’ sacred ark of the covenant and placed it in Dagon’s temple. They regretted this, because the next morning they found Dagon’s statue fallen over and, the morning after, the head and hands broken off it.
Wisely, they returned the ark to Israel. Following a battle with the Israelites, the Philistines cut off the head of Israel’s king, Saul, and placed it in Dagon’s temple.
