Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge, by R.A. Torrey, [ca. 1880], at sacred-texts.com
1 Kings (1 Samuel) Chapter 5
Overview
Sa1 5:1, The Philistines having brought the ark into Ashdod, set it in the house of Dagon; Sa1 5:3, Dagon is smitten down and cut in pieces, and they of Ashdod smitten with emerods; Sa1 5:8, So God deals with them of Gath, when it was brought thither; Sa1 5:10, and so with them of Ekron, when it was brought thither.
took: Sa1 4:11, Sa1 4:17, Sa1 4:18, Sa1 4:22; Psa 78:61
Ashdod: Ashdod, called Azotus by the Greeks, was one of the five satrapies of the Philistines, and a place of great strength and consequence. It was situated near the Mediterranean, between Askelon and Jamnia, thirty-four miles north of Gaza, according to Diodorus Siculus, and the Antonine and Jerusalem Itineraries. It is now called Shdood; and Dr. Richardson says they neither saw nor heard of any ruins there. "The ground," he observes, "around Ashdod is beautifully undulating, but not half stocked with cattle. The site of the town is on the summit of a grassy hill; and, if we are to believe historians, was anciently as strong as it was beautiful." Jos 11:22; Act 8:40, Azotus
of Dagon: Jdg 16:23; Ch1 10:10; Dan 5:2, Dan 5:23; Hab 1:11, Hab 1:16
Dagon was: Exo 12:12; Psa 97:7; Isa 19:1, Isa 46:1, Isa 46:2; Zep 2:11; Mar 3:11; Luk 10:18-20; Co2 6:14-16
set him: Isa 19:1, Isa 40:20, Isa 41:7, Isa 44:17-20, Isa 46:1, Isa 46:2, Isa 46:7; Jer 10:8
the head: Isa 2:18, Isa 2:19, Isa 27:9; Jer 10:11, Jer 50:2; Eze 6:4-6; Dan 11:8; Mic 1:7
of Dagon: The name of this idol, Dagon, signifies a fish, and it is supposed to be the Atergatis of the Syrians, corruptly called Derceto by the Greeks, which had the upper part like a woman, and the lower part like a fish; as Lucian informs us:
Δερκετους δε ειδος εν Φοινικη εθεησαμην, θεημα ξενον; ημισεη μεν γυνη; το δε οκοσον εκ μηρων ες ακρους ποδας, ιχθυος ουρη αποτεινεται. "In Phoenicia I saw the image of Derceto; a strange sight truly! For she had the half of a woman, but from the thighs downward a fish's tail."
Diodorus (1. ii.) describing the same idol, as represented at Askelon, says, το μεν προσωπον εχει γυναικος, το δἀλλο σωμα παν ιχθυος. "It had the head of a woman, but all the rest of the body a fish's."
Probably Horace alludes to this idol, in De Art. Poet. Mic 1:4; Desinat in piscem, mulier formosa superne." "The upper part a handsome woman, and the lower part a fish." If such was the form of this idol, then everything that was human was broken off from what resembled a fish.
the stump: or, the fishy part
neither: Psa 115:4-7, Psa 135:15-18
the hand: Sa1 5:7, Sa1 5:11; Exo 9:3; Psa 32:4; Act 13:11
emerods: Sa1 5:9, Sa1 5:11, Sa1 6:5; Deu 28:27; Job 31:3; Psa 78:66
thereof: The LXX and Vulgate add:
Και μεσον της χωρας αυτης ανεφυησαν μυες και εγενετο συγχυσις θανατου μεγαλη εν τη πολει.
(Et ebullierunt ville et agri in medio regionis illius, et nati sunt mures; et facta est confusio mortis magne in civitate).
"And [the cities and fields in Vulg.] the midst of that region produced mice; [Vulg. burst up, and mice were produced;] and there was the confusion of a great death in the city." Sa1 6:4, Sa1 6:5
saw: Sa1 4:8; Exo 8:8, Exo 8:28, Exo 9:28, Exo 10:7, Exo 12:33
The ark: Sa1 6:20; Sa2 6:9; Ch1 13:11-13, Ch1 15:13
upon Dagon our god: Sa1 5:3, Sa1 5:4; Jer 46:25, Jer 48:7
What shall: Zac 12:3
the hand: Sa1 5:6, Sa1 7:13, Sa1 12:15; Deu 2:15; Amo 5:19, Amo 9:1-4
with a very: Sa1 5:11
and they had emerods: Sa1 5:6, Sa1 6:4, Sa1 6:5, Sa1 6:11; Psa 78:66
God to Ekron: Jos 15:45; Jdg 1:18; Kg2 1:2; Amo 1:8
us, to slay us and our people: Heb. me, to slay me and my people
us not, and our people: Heb. me not, and my people
a deadly: Isa 13:7-9; Jer 48:42-44
the cry: Sa1 9:16; Exo 12:30; Isa 15:3-5; Jer 14:2, Jer 25:34, Jer 48:3