1 Samuel 5:4
New International Version
But the following morning when they rose, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the LORD! His head and hands had been broken off and were lying on the threshold; only his body remained.

New Living Translation
But the next morning the same thing happened—Dagon had fallen face down before the Ark of the LORD again. This time his head and hands had broken off and were lying in the doorway. Only the trunk of his body was left intact.

English Standard Version
But when they rose early on the next morning, behold, Dagon had fallen face downward on the ground before the ark of the LORD, and the head of Dagon and both his hands were lying cut off on the threshold. Only the trunk of Dagon was left to him.

Berean Standard Bible
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.

King James Bible
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.

New King James Version
And when they arose early the next morning, there was Dagon, fallen on its face to the ground before the ark of the LORD. The head of Dagon and both the palms of its hands were broken off on the threshold; only Dagon’s torso was left of it.

New American Standard Bible
But when they got up early the next morning, behold, Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of the LORD. And the head of Dagon and both palms of his hands were cut off on the threshold; only the torso of Dagon was left.

NASB 1995
But when they arose early the next morning, behold, Dagon had fallen on 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 on the threshold; only the trunk of Dagon was left to him.

NASB 1977
But when they arose early the next morning, behold, Dagon had fallen on 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 on the threshold; only the trunk of Dagon was left to him.

Legacy Standard Bible
But they arose early the next morning, and behold, Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of Yahweh. And the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off on the threshold; only the trunk of Dagon was left to him.

Amplified Bible
But when they got up early the next morning, behold, Dagon had [again] fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the LORD, and his head and both palms of his hands were [lying] cut off on the threshold; only the trunk [portion] of [the idol of] Dagon was left on him.

Christian Standard Bible
But when they got up early the next morning, there was Dagon, fallen with his face to the ground before the ark of the LORD. This time, Dagon’s head and both of his hands were broken off and lying on the threshold. Only Dagon’s torso remained.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
But when they got up early the next morning, there was Dagon, fallen with his face to the ground before the ark of the LORD. This time, both Dagon’s head and the palms of his hands were broken off and lying on the threshold. Only Dagon’s torso remained.

American Standard Version
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.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And they arose at dawn the next day, and behold, Dagun was cast on his face on the ground before the Ark of LORD JEHOVAH, and the head of Dagun and both palms of his hands were cut off on the threshold of the door, and the body of Dagun remained

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And it came to pass when they rose early in the morning, behold, Dagon had fallen on his face before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off each before the threshold, and both the wrists of his hands had fallen on the floor of the porch; only the stump of Dagon was left.

Contemporary English Version
But early the next morning, it had fallen over again and was lying facedown on the floor in front of the chest. The body of the statue was still in one piece, but its head and both hands had broken off and were lying on the stone floor in the doorway.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And 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:

English Revised Version
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 lay cut off upon the threshold; only the stump of Dagon was left to him.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
But the next morning they saw that Dagon had [again] fallen forward on the ground in front of the LORD's ark. Dagon's head and his two hands were cut off [and were lying] on the temple's threshold. The rest of Dagon's body was intact.

Good News Translation
Early the following morning they saw that the statue had again fallen down in front of the Covenant Box. This time its head and both its arms were broken off and were lying in the doorway; only the body was left. (

International Standard Version
But when they got up the next morning, there was Dagon, lying on the ground again in front of the Ark of the LORD. Dagon's head and both of his arms were broken off and lying on the threshold. Only the trunk of Dagon was left intact.

JPS Tanakh 1917
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 lay cut off upon the threshold; only the trunk of Dagon was left to him.

Literal Standard Version
And they rise early in the morning on the next day, and behold, Dagon is fallen on its face to the earth, before the Ark of YHWH, and the head of Dagon, and the two palms of its hands are cut off at the threshold, only Dagon’s [body] has been left of him;

Majority Standard Bible
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.

New American Bible
But early the next morning, when they arose, Dagon lay face down on the ground before the ark of the LORD, his head and hands broken off and lying on the threshold, his trunk alone intact.

NET Bible
But when they got up early the following day, Dagon was again lying on the ground before the ark of the LORD. The head of Dagon and his two hands were sheared off and were lying at the threshold. Only Dagon's body was left intact.

New Revised Standard Version
But when they rose early on the next morning, Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of the LORD, and the head of Dagon and both his hands were lying cut off upon the threshold; only the trunk of Dagon was left to him.

New Heart English Bible
And it came about when they arose early the next morning, look, Dagon had fallen on his face before the ark of the LORD; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off on the threshold. Only Dagon�s torso was intact.

Webster's Bible Translation
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.

World English Bible
When they arose early on the following morning, behold, Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before Yahweh’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.

Young's Literal Translation
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;

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Ark Afflicts the Philistines
3When the people of Ashdod got up early the next morning, there was Dagon, fallen on his face before the ark of the LORD. So they took Dagon and returned him to his place. 4But 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. 5That is why, to this day, the priests of Dagon and all who enter the temple of Dagon in Ashdod do not step on the threshold.…

Cross References
1 Samuel 6:5
Make images of your tumors and of the rats that are ravaging the land. Give glory to the God of Israel, and perhaps He will lift His hand from you and your gods and your land.

Isaiah 40:20
To one bereft of an offering who chooses wood that will not rot, who seeks a skilled craftsman to set up an idol that will not topple?

Ezekiel 6:4
Your altars will be demolished and your incense altars will be smashed; and I will cast down your slain before your idols.

Ezekiel 6:6
Wherever you live, the cities will be laid waste and the high places will be demolished, so that your altars will be laid waste and desecrated, your idols smashed and obliterated, your incense altars cut down, and your works blotted out.

Micah 1:7
All her carved images will be smashed to pieces; all her wages will be burned in the fire, and I will destroy all her idols. Since she collected the wages of a prostitute, they will be used again on a prostitute.


Treasury of Scripture

And when they arose early on the morrow morning, behold, Dagon was fallen on 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 on the threshold; only the stump of Dagon was left to him.

the head

Isaiah 2:18,19
And the idols he shall utterly abolish…

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.

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.

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.

the stump.

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1 Samuel 5
1. The Philistines having brought the ark into Ashdod, set it in the house Dagon
3. Dagon is smitten down and cut and cut in pieces,
5. and they of Ashdod smitten with tumors
8. So God deals with them of Gath, when it was brought thither
10. and so with them of Ekron, when it was brought thither














(4) When they arose early on the morrow.--Strange to say, on the next day a new and startling circumstance aroused and disturbed the exultant Philistines. The idol was again fallen, but this time broken. No mere accident could account for what had happened. The head and hands were severed from the image, and thrown contemptuously on the threshold of the temple, upon which the foot of every priest or worshipper as he passed into the sacred house must tread.

Only the stump of Dagon.--The Hebrew, rendered literally, would run, only Dagon was left to him: that is to say, only "the fish," the least noble part of the idol image, was left standing; the human head and hands were tossed down for men as they passed in to trample on; "only the form of a fish was left in him."--R. D. Kimchi.



Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
But when they got up early
וַיַּשְׁכִּ֣מוּ (way·yaš·ki·mū)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Hifil - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine plural
Strong's 7925: To load up, to start early in the morning

the next
מִֽמָּחֳרָת֒ (mim·mā·ḥo·rāṯ)
Preposition-m | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 4283: The morrow, tomorrow

morning,
בַבֹּקֶר֮ (ḇab·bō·qer)
Preposition-b, Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 1242: Dawn, morning

there
וְהִנֵּ֣ה (wə·hin·nêh)
Conjunctive waw | Interjection
Strong's 2009: Lo! behold!

was Dagon,
דָג֗וֹן (ḏā·ḡō·wn)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 1712: Dagon -- a god and an idol of the Philistines

fallen
נֹפֵ֤ל (nō·p̄êl)
Verb - Qal - Participle - masculine singular
Strong's 5307: To fall, lie

on his face
לְפָנָיו֙ (lə·p̄ā·nāw)
Preposition-l | Noun - common plural construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 6440: The face

before
לִפְנֵ֖י (lip̄·nê)
Preposition-l | Noun - common plural construct
Strong's 6440: The face

the ark
אֲר֣וֹן (’ă·rō·wn)
Noun - common singular construct
Strong's 727: A chest, ark

of the LORD,
יְהוָ֑ה (Yah·weh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3068: LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel

with his head
וְרֹ֨אשׁ (wə·rōš)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 7218: The head

[and]
כַּפּ֣וֹת (kap·pō·wṯ)
Noun - feminine plural construct
Strong's 3709: Hollow or flat of the hand, palm, sole (of the foot), a pan

his hands
יָדָ֗יו (yā·ḏāw)
Noun - fdc | third person masculine singular
Strong's 3027: A hand

broken off
כְּרֻתוֹת֙ (kə·ru·ṯō·wṯ)
Verb - Qal - QalPassParticiple - feminine plural
Strong's 3772: To cut, to destroy, consume, to covenant

and lying on
אֶל־ (’el-)
Preposition
Strong's 413: Near, with, among, to

the threshold.
הַמִּפְתָּ֔ן (ham·mip̄·tān)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 4670: A stretcher, a sill

Only
רַ֥ק (raq)
Adverb
Strong's 7535: But, even, except, howbeit howsoever, at the least, nevertheless

[the torso]
דָּג֖וֹן (dā·ḡō·wn)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 1712: Dagon -- a god and an idol of the Philistines

remained.
נִשְׁאַ֥ר (niš·’ar)
Verb - Nifal - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 7604: To swell up, be, redundant


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OT History: 1 Samuel 5:4 When they arose early on the next (1Sa iSam 1 Sam i sa)
1 Samuel 5:3
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