The Illustrated Bible Dictionary
Dagon
Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897)
little fish; diminutive from dag = a fish, the fish-God; the national God of the Philistines (Judges 16:23). This idol had the body of a fish with the head and hands of a man. It was an Assyrio-Babylonian deity, the worship of which was introduced among the Philistines through Chaldea. The most famous of the temples of Dagon were at Gaza (Judges 16:23-30) and Ashdod (1 Samuel 5:1-7). (See FISH.)
