Repost: My Morning Manna: Dagon- No god : 1 Samuel 5:
1 Then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. 2 When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon [a Philistine idol] and set it by Dagon. 3 And when the people of Ashdod arose early in the morning, there was Dagon, fallen on its face to the earth before the ark of Yahweh. So they took Dagon and set it in its place again. 4 And when they arose early the next morning, there was Dagon, fallen on its face to the ground before the ark of Yahweh. 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. 5 Therefore neither the priests of Dagon nor any who come into Dagon’s house tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day.
There is no glory in Israel; so the narrative first follows the ark of the covenant. "This chapter relates to us the history of the ark of God while in captivity. The Philistines for a short space rejoice over their spoil. But this joy is turned into sorrow." (Hawker's Poor Man's Commentary)
"And the Philistines took the ark of God.- which had been so greatly abused by the Israelites." (Trapp) "Why were not they immediately killed, who touched the ark, as afterwards Uzzah was? [2 Sam. 6:7.]... Because the sin of the Philistines was not so great, because the law forbidding this was not given, or at least was not known to them; whereas Uzzah’s fact was a transgression, and that of a known law." (Matthew Poole)
"After their triumph over Israel, the Philistines intend to celebrate their good fortune, but the LORD has other plans. After its capture, the ark is taken to the coastal city of Ashdod, about thirty-five miles west of Jerusalem and one of the five main centers of the Philistines (5:1–12). There they place it in a temple beside the image of Dagon." (Baker's illustrated Bible Commentary) "Baal, the great storm god, king of the gods, was the central figure in the pantheon and was functionally far more important than El... Baal was called the 'son of Dagon.' Dagon, meaning 'fish,' was the chief god of Ashdod (cf. 1 Sm 5:1-7)." (Tyndale)
"Philistia shouted for joy; and more for the capture of the ark and its golden cherubim, than for the defeat of Israel; because they could now profanely boast that Dagon had vanquished Israel’s God, who had filled Egypt with the terrors of his name..." (Joseph Sutcliffe) taking their trophy to their temple. It was the universal custom: "When the Philistines had conquered Saul, they hung up his armor in the temple of Ashtaroth, 1 Samuel 31:10. And when David slew Goliath, he laid up his sword in the tabernacle of the Lord, 1 Samuel 21:8, 1 Samuel 21:9." (Adam Clarke)
"The war of the ark soon taught them better wisdom. Twice did Dagon fall before it; and twice were its priests obliged to aid and assist their god to recover his station; the latter time they could not dissemble its dismembered body." (Joseph Sutcliffe) Yahweh, who had taken vengeance on the gods of Egypt and on the gods of Canaan, now took vengeance on Dagon of Philistine. "The head of Dagon and both the palms of its hands were broken off on the threshold;"- "The head is the seat of wisdom; the hands the instruments of action: both are cut off to shew that he had neither wisdom nor strength to defend himself or his worshippers." (John Wesley) "Only the stump of Dagon was left to him— In the Hebrew it is, 'only Dagon remained to him'; where 'Dagon', says Houbigant, is taken for the principal part of his statue, or the trunk of his body. Kimchi says, nothing but the form of a fish remained to him. Thus the Lord shewed that there was no God besides Him." (Thomas Coke)
"Therefore neither the priests of Dagon nor any who come into Dagon’s house tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day." (5)
This custom was meant to honor the sacredness of Dagon, their god. Because the head and palms of Dagon were broken off by his fall and the relics were in the threshold, "the threshold became sacred, and neither his priests nor worshippers ever tread on the threshold.
Thus it was ordered, in the Divine providence, that, by a religious custom of their own, they should perpetuate their disgrace, the insufficiency of their worship, and the superiority of the God of Israel." (Adam Clarke)
In the later reign of the righteous King Josiah of Israel, he "mentions this among idolatrous observances which he condemns: 'In the same day I will punish all those that leap over the threshold' (Zeph. 1:9)." (C. J. Ellicott) The king did not want anyone from Israel to miss the intended moral of the lesson. It is wrong to worship the creation- "any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them." See Exodus 20:4-6. In this story, even Dagon bowed to Yahweh, God of Israel, seeming to say that "Only in Yahweh are righteousness and strength." See Isaiah 45:23-24 and Romans 14:11. even in His Son, "Yahweh our righteousness”! (Jer. 23:6; 1 Cor.1:30)
My Morning Manna: Plague of Death on the People: 1 Samuel 5:
6 But the hand of the LORD was heavy on the people of Ashdod, and He ravaged them and struck them with tumors, both Ashdod and its territory. 7 And when the men of Ashdod saw how it was, they said, “The ark of the God of Israel must not remain with us, for His hand is harsh toward us and Dagon our god.”
"'But the hand of the LORD was heavy on them of Ashdod, and He ravaged (destroyed) them and struck them with tumors,' etc. Not only on their idol, but on themselves; it had crushed him to pieces, and now it fell heavy on them to their destruction." (John Gill) Yahweh "destroyed them; partly by wasting their land, 1 Samuel 6:5; and partly by killing many of their persons, as is sufficiently implied here, 1 Samuel 5:10. Emerods; a disease mentioned only here and Deuteronomy 28:27; it was in the hinder parts. It is needless to inquire into the nature of it. It may suffice to know that it was a very sore disease, and not only very vexatious and tormenting, but also pernicious and mortal." (Matthew Poodle)
When the men of Ashdod saw that sickness and death were upon them, they said, "'the ark of the God of Israel shall not abide with us'; like the Gergesenes, who besought Christ to depart their coasts, having more regard for their swine than for Him." (John Gill)—
"'for His hand is sore upon us, and upon Dagon our god' - They now saw that they had not prevailed against Israel, on account of their god being more powerful than Jehovah; and they now feel how easily this God can confound and destroy their whole nation." (Adam Clarke)
8 Therefore they sent and gathered to themselves all the lords of the Philistines, and said, “What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel?” And they answered, “Let the ark of the God of Israel be carried away to Gath.” So they carried the ark of the God of Israel away. 9 So it was, after they had carried it away, that the hand of the LORD was against the city with a very great destruction; and He struck the men of the city, both small and great, and tumors broke out on them.
Therefore they sent and gathered to themselves all the lords of the Philistines,- the other four lords, for there were five with this; see Joshua 13:3, and said, 'what shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel?'" (Gill)
The lords came up with a solution: “Let the ark of the God of Israel be carried away to Gath.” Gath represented human strength. "It was a walled city (2 Chr 26:6) and one of the five chief cities of the Philistines... Although frequently involved in conflict with the Israelites, the city was apparently not subdued until David's time (1 Chr 18:1). It was a Canaanite city, the home of the giant Goliath (1 Sm 17:4) and other men of great height (2 Sm 21:18-22). A remnant of the Anakim was left, even after the extensive campaigns of Joshua (Jos 10:36-39; 11:21-22)." (Tyndale Bible Dictionary) But the presence of the ark produced similar results in Gath.
10 Therefore they sent the ark of God to Ekron. So it was, as the ark of God came to Ekron, that the Ekronites cried out, saying, “They have brought the ark of the God of Israel to us, to kill us and our people!” 11 So they sent and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and said, “Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go back to its own place, so that it does not kill us and our people.” For there was a deadly destruction throughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there. 12 And the men who did not die were stricken with the tumors, and the cry of the city went up to heaven.
These mighty men could do nothing to stop the judgment. They merely sent the ark of the covenant to Ekron— a sort of spiritual capital for Baal-zebub "who had somewhat of a reputation (2 Kings 1:2)." (Pett) Later: "When Ahaziah injured himself and lay ill, he preferred to consult with Baal-zebub rather than with God. Elijah was sent by God to denounce Ahaziah and tell him that he would die (2 Kgs 1:2-18). Baal worship may have been increasing in Israel at this time. Ekron is included in the denunciations of several prophets: Jeremiah (25:20), Amos (1:8), Zephaniah (2:4), and Zechariah (9:5-7)." (Tyndale Bible Dictionary)
"Perhaps the God of Israel would find it more difficult to cope with Baal-zebub. The people of Ekron, however, were not convinced, and protested at the idea of the Ark coming to Ekron. Their leaders cried out that the Ark of the God of Israel had been sent among them to slay them and their people." (Peter Pett) Indeed the plagues of heaven were repeated.
The message is "the power and superiority of the God of Israel over all things in heaven or upon earth." (Burton Coffman) So the people again convened another council of the lords and said, “Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go back to its own place, so that it does not kill us and our people.” “They should have rather parted with their sins, than with the ark: and have said unto their idols, 'Get ye hence,' as Isaiah 30:22. What have we to do any more with Dagon [or Baal-zebub], who cannot save himself, much less us, from the divine vengeance?" (John Trapp) They should have looked unto the God of Israel for deliverance from eternal death.