1 Samuel 5:3

3 cumque surrexissent diluculo Azotii altera die ecce Dagon iacebat pronus in terram ante arcam Domini et tulerunt Dagon et restituerunt eum in loco suo

1 Samuel 5:3 Meaning and Commentary

1 Samuel 5:3

And when they of Ashdod arose early on the morrow,
&e.] Either the people, the inhabitants of the place, who came early to pay their devotions to their idol, before they went on their business; or the priests of the idol, who came to sacrifice in the morning:

and, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the earth before the ark
of the Lord;
as if he was subject to it, and giving adoration to it, and owning it was above him, and had superior power over him:

and they took Dagon, and set him in his place again;
having no notion that it was owing to the ark of God, or to the God of Israel, that he was fallen, but that it was a matter of chance.

1 Samuel 5:3 In-Context

1 Philisthim autem tulerunt arcam Dei et asportaverunt eam a lapide Adiutorii in Azotum

2 tulerunt Philisthim arcam Dei et intulerunt eam in templum Dagon et statuerunt eam iuxta Dagon

3 cumque surrexissent diluculo Azotii altera die ecce Dagon iacebat pronus in terram ante arcam Domini et tulerunt Dagon et restituerunt eum in loco suo

4 rursumque mane die alio consurgentes invenerunt Dagon iacentem super faciem suam in terram coram arca Domini caput autem Dagon et duae palmae manuum eius abscisae erant super limen

5 porro Dagon truncus solus remanserat in loco suo propter hanc causam non calcant sacerdotes Dagon et omnes qui ingrediuntur templum eius super limen Dagon in Azoto usque in hodiernum diem