Dagon

“ You have lived to see the Dagon before which you and your friends have for so many years cheerfully prostrated yourselves fall to the ground, and lie a helpless, hopeless ruin on the very threshold of the temple where it lately stood defiant and dominant. ”

“ Fulfilled was the mystery that was in the Lamb, and fulfilled was the type that was in Dagon. Blessed is He Who by the True Lamb redeemed us, and destroyed our destroyer as He did Dagon! In December when the nights are long, rose unto us the Day, of Whom there is no bound! In winter when all the world is gloomy, forth came the Fair One Who cheered all in the world! In winter that makes the earth barren, virginity learned to bring forth. ”

“ Before sunset Dagon, a Phoenician, the most noted banker in Memphis, came to the house of Ramses. He was a man in the full bloom of life, yellow, lean, but well built. He wore a blue tunic and over it a white robe of thin texture. He had immense hair of his own, confined by a gold circlet, and a great black beard, his own also. This rich growth looked imposing in comparison with the wigs and false beards of Egyptian exquisites.
The dwelling of the heir to the throne was swarming with youth of the aristocracy. ”

“ Hiram.
"If only that Jewess, Sarah, does not hinder," added Dagon, after a moment of silence. "She is waiting for a child to which the prince is attached already. If a son is born, all our plans may be thwarted."
"We shall have money for Sarah too," added Hiram.
"She will take nothing!" burst out Dagon. "That pitiful creature has refused gold and a precious goblet, which I carried to her."
"She did, for she thought that Thou hadst the wish to deceive her," remarked Rabsun. ”

“ How could they attribute their victory to the power of Dagon when Dagon himself could not keep his own ground before the ark? But they are resolved Dagon shall be their god still, and therefore set him in his place. Bishop Hall observes hence, It is just with God that those who want grace shall want wit too; and it is the work of superstition to turn men into the stocks and stones they worship. Those that make them are like unto them. ”

“ 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. Sacrifices were offered, and songs of praise sung, on the general thanksgiving day, for this victory obtained over one man; there were great expressions of joy, and all to the honour of Dagon. ”

“ Elak asked again. "Tell me, before I go mad thinking hell has loosed its legions on Atlantis."
"They are the children of Dagon," Zend said. "Their dwelling-place is in the great deeps of the ocean. Have you never heard of the unearthly ones who worship Dagon?"
"Yes. But I never believed——"
"Oh, there's truth in the tale. Eons and unimaginable eons ago, before mankind existed on earth, only the waters existed. There was no land. And from the slime there sprang up a race of beings which dwelt in the sunken abysses of the ocean, inhuman creatures that worshipped Dagon, their god. ”

“ No more were men in female habit seen,
Or they in men's, by the lewd Syrian queen;
No lustful maids at Benos' temple sit,
And with their body's shame their marriage get.
The double Dagon neither nature saves,
Nor flies she back to the Erythraean waves.
The travelling sun sees gladly from on high
His chariots burn, and Nergal quenched lie.
The King's impartial anger lights on all,
From fly-blown Accaron to the thundering Baal. ”

“ There was wild exultation in England after a Cressy, or an Agincourt, but there was an element in the triumph of the Philistines which was wanting to swell the joy of our ancestors; the victory of Ebenezer was not merely success in a hard-fought battle between rival hosts or races—it was deemed the triumph of Dagon, the fish-god, over the God of Israel. It was into the temple of Dagon that the Ark of the Covenant was exultingly brought, the noblest trophy of victory, a token of the conquering might of him whom the Philistines worshipped. ”

“ That Marna was lineally descended from Dagon is probable in every way, and it is therefore interesting to note that he gave oracles, that he had a circular temple, where he was sometimes worshipped by human sacrifices, that there were wells in the sacred circuit, and that there was also a place of adoration to him situated, as was usual, outside the town. Certain “marmora” in the temple, which might not be approached, especially by women, may perhaps be connected with the threshold which the priests of Dagon would not touch with their feet (1 Sam. v. 5, Zeph. i. 9) . ”

“ Rabsun rose from his chair, and threatening Dagon with his fist under the nose, cried,
"Thou wild boar, fatted on the pharaoh's swill, Phoenicia concerns thee as much as Egypt concerns me. Thou wouldst sell thy country for a drachma hadst Thou the chance, leprous cur that Thou art!"
Dagon grew pale and answered with a calm voice,
"What is that huckster saying? In Tyre my sons are learning navigation; in Sidon lives my daughter with her husband. I have lent half my property to the supreme council, though I do not receive even ten per cent for it. ”

“ Third Scene, Gorgeous sleeping apartment in an Oriental style. An ottoman and an escutcheon at the right side. Fourth Scene, Hall for private worship of the Idolaters. Dagon's statue stands in the background; before him stands a small altar.
FOURTH ACT.—Dark walled prison—a heavy block with chains at the side.
FIFTH ACT.—First Scene, the Court before the Dagon's Temple. Second Scene, The open Dagon's Temple. Dagon stands—the fire glowing in the back ground. It is a figure with a misshaped face of a man—long chin, beard and large cross-eyes. ”

“ In the temple of Rama, in India, there is a representation of Vishnou which answers perfectly to that of Dagon. [82:3] Mr. Maurice, in his "Hist. Hindostan," has proved the identity of the Syrian Dagon and the Indian Fish Avatar, and concludes by saying:
"From the foregoing and a variety of parallel circumstances, I am inclined to think that the Chaldean Oannes, the Phenician and Philistian Dagon, and the Pisces of the Syrian and Egyptian Zodiac, were the same deity with the Indian Vishnu." ”

“ So in his name Dagon had imposed new rents on the people, and the active movement on which he had been looking while moving along the shores was the extortion of rents. It was clear that the man whom they had been beating on the shore had nothing to pay with. The children who were crying bitterly in the boat were sold at a drachma per head for a twelvemonth, and that woman who was wading in the water to her waist and weeping was their mother.
"Women are very unquiet," said the prince to himself. "Sarah is the quietest woman; but others love to talk much, to cry and raise an uproar." ”

“ Dagon, one of the principal deities of the Philistines, was worshipped at Gaza and Ashdod (2Sa 5:2., and 1 Macc. 10:83) , and, according to Jerome on Isa 46:1, in the rest of the Philistine towns as well. It was a fish-deity (דּגון, from דּג, a fish) , and in shape resembled the body of a fish with the head and hands of a man (1Sa 5:4) . ”

“ Samson, too, shall sacrifice to Dagon. A boy is told to lead him where all can witness his humiliation. Samson feels that the time for retribution upon his enemies is come. He asks to be led between the marble pillars that support the roof of the temple. Priests and people, the traitress and her dancing women, the lords of the Philistines, the rout of banqueters and worshippers—all hymn the praise of Dagon. ”

“ DAGON, THE NATIONAL GOD OF THE PHILISTINES
Dagon was represented with the face and hands of a man and the tail of a fish (1 Samuel v. 4) . Various kinds of fish were objects of general worship among the Egyptians.
The worship of Dagon did not exclude that of other Baals (2 Kings i. 2, 3) . He was eminently the god of agriculture (1 Samuel vi. 4, 5) .
The most famous temples of Dagon were at Gaza (Judges xvi. 21, 30) and Ashdod (1 Samuel v. 5, 6) . This latter temple was of pre-Maccabean construction, and was destroyed by Jonathan, the brother of Judas the Maccabee (c. 148 b.c.) ”

“ For fifteen talents the prince will give five talents yearly, and in the course of three years I will take back all myself, so that thou, worthiness, wilt not even know—”
“Thou wilt give me to-day fifteen talents, and during three years take back thirty?”
“Egyptian law permits percentage to equal the loan,” answered Dagon, confusedly.
“But is that not too much?”
“Too much?” cried out Dagon. “Every great lord has a great court, a great property, and pays no per cent save a great one. ”

“ As a sacred thing, which they designed to pay some religious respect to, in conjunction with Dagon; for the gods of the heathen were never looked upon as averse to partners. Though the nations would not change their gods, yet they would multiply them and add to them. But they were mistaken in the God of Israel when, in putting his ark by Dagon's image, they intended to do him honour; for he is not worshipped at all if he is not worshipped alone. The Lord our God is one Lord. ”

“ His solar character is well preserved, even in the sequel of the Swiss legend, in which he appears no less skilful as a steersman than as an archer, and in which, after traversing, like Dagon, the tempestuous sea of night, he leaps at daybreak in regained freedom upon the land, and strikes down the oppressor who has held him in bondage.
But the sun, though ever victorious in open contest with his enemies, is nevertheless not invulnerable. At times he succumbs to treachery, is bound by the frost-giants, or slain by the demons of darkness. ”

“ He closed the manuscript, walked out into the moonlight in the garden, and then, he said, he felt an indescribable melancholy come upon his soul at the thought that so soon he must leave all the fame that he would acquire by that manuscript.
The applause of this world is a very mean god to worship. It is a Dagon that falls upon its worshipers and crushes them to death. Alas for those who, fascinated by human applause, give up the service of the Lord God and go with Laban to hunt in Rachel's tent for the lost images! ”

“ Let the king withdraw his power and authority from the prelates, and they shall fall suddenly in dross; let kirkmen and ministers withdraw their tongues and pens from them, and our mountain (ere ye look about you) shall become a plain. As these two stoot up this mountain, so upon this mountain all false worship in the kirk is built, even Dagon's house. "Lead me," says Samson, "to the pillars that Dagon's house stands on, that I may be avenged for my two eyes." ”

“ The Lord had no mind that the Philistines, who were His scourge for the Israelites, should vaunt themselves over Him, or should believe that of their own strength they had prevailed. Wonderful is He! He takes the wicked to punish His people, and the wicked are but tools in His hand, and He uses them for His own designs. The Ark came to Ashdod, and was put in the house of Dagon; but when the men of Ashdod arose early on the morrow, behold Dagon was fallen upon his face to the earth before the Ark. ”

“ Dagon must stoop, and shall e're long receive Such a discomfit, as shall quite despoil him Of all these boasted Trophies won on me, 470 And with confusion blank his Worshippers. Man: With cause this hope relieves thee, and these words I as a Prophecy receive: for God, Nothing more certain, will not long defer To vindicate the glory of his name Against all competition, nor will long Endure it, doubtful whether God be Lord, Or Dagon. But for thee what shall be done? Thou must not in the mean while here forgot Lie in this miserable loathsom plight 480 Neglected. ”

“ And look, there is the brute's back-fin."
"What is it?" asked Cleanor.
"A shark, of course," replied the old man. "They never bode any good to anyone. Dagon only knows where we shall find the tunnies again. They will be leagues away from here by sunrise to-morrow, and there is no telling what way they will go. However, we have done pretty well, even if we don't see them again this moon. To-night we will lie-to; it will be time enough in the morning to decide what is to be done." ”

“ You say it was the bribe which the Philistine lords offered to Delilah and her treachery and Samson's sin that put him in the enemy's hand. You say, Surely the most ignorant man in Gaza must have seen that Dagon had nothing whatever to do with the result. And yet it is very common to ascribe to God what is nowise His doing. There are indeed times when we almost shudder to hear God thanked [328] for that which could only be attributed to a Dagon or a Moloch. ”

“ O gods, one man would not have strength to bring so much. I will do better: I will make all payments for the prince, so that, worthiness, Thou wilt not need to think of such a wretched matter."
"Then dost Thou know my debts?"
"I know them a little," answered Dagon, carelessly.
"The prince wishes to send six talents to the Eastern army; that will be done by our bankers. Three talents to the worthy Nitager and three to the worthy Patrokles; that will be done here immediately. ”

“ But if the heir wishes war with Assyria, he will make war, though the priests were to summon all the gods against him."
H "Pst!" interrupted Dagon. "If the priests wish greatly, there will be a treaty. But perhaps they will not wish."
"Therefore, Dagon, we must have all the military leaders with us," said
Hiram.
"We can."
"And the nomarchs."
"We can have them too."
"And the heir," continued Hiram.
"But if Thou alone urge him to war with Assyria, that is nothing. A man, like a harp, has many strings, and to play on them fingers are needed, while thou, Dagon, art only one finger." ”