1 Samuel 5:4
And when they arose early on the morrow morning, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of the Lord; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold; only the stump of Dagon was left to him.
1 Samuel 5:4 in other translations
| BSB | But when they got up early the next morning, there was Dagon, fallen on his face before the ark of the LORD, with his head and his hands broken off and lying on the threshold. Only the torso remained. |
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| WEB | When they arose early on the following morning, behold, Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the LORD’s ark; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off on the threshold. Only Dagon’s torso was intact. |
| ASV | And when they arose early on the morrow morning, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of Jehovah; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands lay cut off upon the threshold; only the stump of Dagon was left to him. |
| YLT | And they rise early in the morning on the morrow, and lo, Dagon is fallen on its face to the earth, before the ark of Jehovah, and the head of Dagon, and the two palms of its hands are cut off at the threshold, only the fishy part hath been left to him; |
| DARBY | And when they arose early the next morning, behold, Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of Jehovah; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold; only the fish-stump was left to him. |
| BBE | And when they got up early on the morning after, Dagon had come down to the earth on his face before the ark of the Lord; and his head and his hands were broken off on the doorstep; only the base was in its place. |
| Webster | And when they arose early on the morrow morning, behold, Dagon had fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of the LORD: and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshhold; only the stump of Dagon was left to him. |
What does 1 Samuel 5:4 mean?
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Samuel 5:3-4
3-4. they of Ashdod arose early--They were filled with consternation when they found the object of their stupid veneration prostrate before the symbol of the divine presence. Though set up, it fell again, and lay in a state of complete mutilation; its head and arms, severed from the trunk, were lying in distant and separate places, as if violently cast off, and only the fishy part remained. The degradation of their…
Adam Clarke's Commentary
Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on 1 Samuel 5:1-5
See the ark's triumph over Dagon. Thus the kingdom of Satan will certainly fall before the kingdom of Christ, error before truth, profaneness before godliness, and corruption before grace in the hearts of the faithful. When the interests of religion seem to be ready to sink, even then we may be confident that the day of their triumph will come. When Christ, the true Ark of the covenant, really enters the heart of…
1 Samuel 5:4 in the original Hebrew
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Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).
Cross references for 1 Samuel 5:4
- Micah 1:7
And all the graven images thereof shall be beaten to pieces, and all the hires thereof shall be burned with the fire, and all the idols thereof will I lay desolate: for she gathered it of the hire of an harlot, and they shall return to the hire of an harlot.
- Isaiah 2:18-19
And the idols he shall utterly abolish. And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.
- Jeremiah 50:2
Declare ye among the nations, and publish, and set up a standard; publish, and conceal not: say, Babylon is taken, Bel is confounded, Merodach is broken in pieces; her idols are confounded, her images are broken in pieces.
- Jeremiah 10:11
Thus shall ye say unto them, The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish from the earth, and from under these heavens.
- Isaiah 27:9
By this therefore shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged; and this is all the fruit to take away his sin; when he maketh all the stones of the altar as chalkstones that are beaten in sunder, the groves and images shall not stand up.
- Ezekiel 6:4-6
And your altars shall be desolate, and your images shall be broken: and I will cast down your slain men before your idols. And I will lay the dead carcases of the children of Israel before their idols; and I will scatter your bones round about your altars. In all your dwellingplaces the cities shall be laid waste, and the high places shall be desolate; that your altars may be laid waste and made desolate, and your idols may be broken and cease, and your images may be cut down, and your works may be abolished.
- Daniel 11:8
And shall also carry captives into Egypt their gods, with their princes, and with their precious vessels of silver and of gold; and he shall continue more years than the king of the north.
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Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Isa 2:18,19; 27:9; Jer 10:11; 50:2; Eze 6:4-6; Da 11:8; Mic 1:7
of Dagon.The name of this idol, Dagon, signifies a fish: and it is supposed to be the Atergatis of the Syrians, corruptly called Derceto by the Greeks, which had the upper part like a woman, and the lower part like a fish; as Lucian informs us: [Derketous de eidos en Phoinike etheésamén, theéma xenon; émisen men gyné; to de okoson ek mérón es akrous podas, ichtlyos ouré apoteinetai;] "In Phoenicia I saw the image of Derceto; a strange sight truly! For she had the half of a woman, but from the thighs downward a fish's tail." Diodorus, (1. ii.) describing the same idol, as represented at Askelon, says, [to men prosópon echei synaikos, to d'allo sóma pan ichthyos.] "It had the head of a woman, but all the rest of the body a fish's." Probably Horace alludes to this idol, in De Art. Poet. v. 4; {Desinat in piscem, mulier formosa superne:} "The upper part a handsome woman, and the lower part a fish." If such was the form of this idol, then everything that was human was broken off from what resembled a fish.
the stump. or, the fishy part.
Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain
Context
- 1 Samuel 5:3
And when they of Ashdod arose early on the morrow, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the earth before the ark of the Lord. And they took Dagon, and set him in his place again.
- 1 Samuel 5:4
And when they arose early on the morrow morning, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of the Lord; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold; only the stump of Dagon was left to him.
- 1 Samuel 5:5
Therefore neither the priests of Dagon, nor any that come into Dagon’s house, tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod unto this day.
1 Samuel 5:4 in other languages
| Spanish Reina-Valera 1909 | Y tornándose á levantar de mañana el siguiente día, he aquí que Dagón había caído postrado en tierra delante del arca de Jehová; y la cabeza de Dagón y las dos palmas de sus manos estaban cortadas sobre el umbral, habiéndole quedado á Dagón el tronco solamente. |
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| French Bible J.N. Darby 1885 | Et ils se levèrent de bonne heure le lendemain matin, et voici, Dagon était gisant sur sa face contre terre, devant l’arche de l’ Éternel; et la tête de Dagon et les deux paumes de ses mains coupées étaient sur le seuil; le Dagon seul était resté. |
| German Elberfelder 1871 | Und als die am anderen Tage des Morgens früh aufstanden, siehe, da lag Dagon auf seinem Angesicht auf der Erde vor der Lade Jehovas; und zwar lagen das Haupt Dagons und seine beiden Hände abgehauen auf der Schwelle, nur der Fischrumpf war an ihm übriggeblieben. |
| Latin Clementine Vulgate | Rursumque mane die altera consurgentes, invenerunt Dagon jacentem super faciem suam in terra coram arca Domini: caput autem Dagon, et duæ palmæ manuum ejus abscissæ erant super limen: |