Judges 16:23
in Judges 16Now the lords of the Philistines gathered together to offer a great sacrifice to their god Dagon. They rejoiced and said, “Our god has delivered Samson our enemy into our hands.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And the lords of the Philistines gathered them together to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their god, and to rejoice; for they said, Our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand.
KJV
Then the lords of the Philistines gathered them together for to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their god, and to rejoice: for they said, Our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand.
⋯
This verse in Judges 16
Commentary
6 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Dagon was the national idol of the Philistines 1Ch 10:10, so called from Dag, a fish. The description of Dagon, in his temple at Ashdod 1Sa 5:4, exactly agrees with the representations of a fish-god on the walls of Khorsabad, on slabs at Kouyunjik, and on sundry antique cylinders and gems. In these the figures vary.
This site's exposition
to offer a great sacrifice
on Judges 16:23-24
Dagon is named here, in 1 Samuel 5 where his image falls before the ark, and at 1 Chronicles 10:10 where Saul's head hangs in his temple. The Philistines credit their god with the deliverance Judges gives the LORD, “Our god has delivered Samson our enemy into our hands”. Albert Barnes derives the name from dag, a fish, while others derive it from dagan, grain, for a harvest god.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
On the occasion of a great feast Samson is brought out of prison to the assembly of the Philistines, and set in sight of the people. There were nearly three thousand in number, men and women; and they insulted him with bitter reproaches, and carried him about in mockery, a trial harder to be borne than the very reality of captivity by a man conscious of innate power. For to live and die is natural, to be a laughing stock is counted a disgrace.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Then the lords of the Philistines gathered them together,....
All people will thus walk in the name of their gods: they will give them the praise of their achievements; and shall not we pay this tribute to our God whose kingdom ruleth over all? Yet, considering what wicked arts they used to get Samson into their hands, it must be confessed it was only such a dunghill-deity as Dagon that was fit to be made a patron of the villany.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Unto Dagon their god - Diodorus Siculus describes their god thus: Το μεν προσωπον εχει γυναικος, το δ’ αλλο σωμα παν ιχθους; “It had the head of a woman, but all the rest of the body resembled a fish.” Dagon was called Dorceto among the heathens. Horace, in the following lines, especially in the third and fourth, seems to have in view the image of Dagon: - Humano capiti cervicem pictor equinam Pingere si velit; et varias inducere plumas, Undique collatis Inembris; ut turpiter atrum Desinat in piscem mulier formosa superne; Spectatum admissi risum teneatis amici? De Art. Poet., V. 1. “Suppose a painter to a human head Should join a horse’s neck; and wildly spread The various plumage of the feather’d kind O’er limbs of different beasts, absurdly join’d; Or if he gave to view a beauteous maid, Above the waist with every charm array’d, Should a foul fish her lower parts infold, Would you not smile such pictures to behold?” Francis.
The words behind it
16 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְסַרְנֵ֣י | vesarnei | and [the] rulers of | H5633 → | 22 times |
| פְלִשְׁתִּ֗ים | felishtim | [the] Philistines | H6430 → | 287 times |
| נֶֽאֱסְפוּ֙ | neesfu | they gathered | H622 → | 200 times |
| לִזְבֹּ֧חַ | lizboach | to sacrifice | H2076 → | |
| זֶֽבַח־ | zevach- | a sacrifice | H2077 → | |
| גָּד֛וֹל | gadol | great | H1419 → | 526 times |
| לְדָג֥וֹן | ledagon | to Dagon | H1712 → | |
| אֱלֹהֵיהֶ֖ם | ʾeloheihem | god their | H430 → | 2601 times |
| וּלְשִׂמְחָ֑ה | ulesimchah | and for joy | H8057 → | |
| וַיֹּ֣אמְר֔וּ | vaiyomeru | and they said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| נָתַ֤ן | natan | he has given | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| אֱלֹהֵ֙ינוּ֙ | ʾeloheinu | god our | H430 → | 2601 times |
| בְּיָדֵ֔נוּ | beyadenu | in hand our | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| אֵ֖ת | ʾet | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| שִׁמְשׁ֥וֹן | shimshon | Samson | H8123 → | 38 times |
| אוֹיְבֵֽינוּ׃ | ʾoyveinu | enemies our | H341 → | 282 times |
וְסַרְנֵ֣יand [the] rulers of
vesarneiH5633 →22 times
פְלִשְׁתִּ֗ים[the] Philistines
felishtimH6430 →287 times
נֶֽאֱסְפוּ֙they gathered
neesfuH622 →200 times
לִזְבֹּ֧חַto sacrifice
lizboachH2076 →
זֶֽבַח־a sacrifice
zevach-H2077 →
גָּד֛וֹלgreat
gadolH1419 →526 times
לְדָג֥וֹןto Dagon
ledagonH1712 →
אֱלֹהֵיהֶ֖םgod their
ʾeloheihemH430 →2601 times
וּלְשִׂמְחָ֑הand for joy
ulesimchahH8057 →
וַיֹּ֣אמְר֔וּand they said
vaiyomeruH559 →5305 times
נָתַ֤ןhe has given
natanH5414 →2011 times
אֱלֹהֵ֙ינוּ֙god our
ʾeloheinuH430 →2601 times
בְּיָדֵ֔נוּin hand our
beyadenuH3027 →1618 times
אֵ֖ת<obj.>
ʾetH853 →10935 times
שִׁמְשׁ֥וֹןSamson
shimshonH8123 →38 times
אוֹיְבֵֽינוּ׃enemies our
ʾoyveinuH341 →282 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Proverbs 24:17Do not gloat when your enemy falls, and do not let your heart rejoice when he stumbles,
it leads to
- Obadiah 1:12
But you should not gloat in that day, your brother’s day of misfortune, nor rejoice over the people of Judah in the day of their destruction, nor boast proudly in the day of their…
- Job 31:29
If I have rejoiced in my enemy’s ruin, or exulted when evil befell him—
- 1 Corinthians 13:6–7
Love takes no pleasure in evil, but rejoices in the truth.
- Proverbs 17:5
He who mocks the poor insults their Maker; whoever gloats over calamity will not go unpunished.
- 2 Samuel 16:5–14
As King David approached Bahurim, a man from the family of the house of Saul was just coming out. His name was Shimei son of Gera, and as he approached, he kept yelling out…
- Obadiah 1:12
Through
Jeremiah 2:11Has a nation ever changed its gods, though they are no gods at all? Yet My people have exchanged their Glory for useless idols.
it leads to
- Romans 1:23
and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images of mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
- Isaiah 37:19
They have cast their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods, but only wood and stone—the work of human hands.
- Jeremiah 16:20
Can man make gods for himself? Such are not gods!”
- Romans 1:23
About Judges
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Ambrose of Milan, Letter 19; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.