Verse 4
THE LORD REPEATS THE MESSAGE WITH EMPHASIS
"But when they arose early on the next morning, behold, Dagon had fallen face downward on the ground before the ark of the Lord, and the head of Dagon and both his hands were cut off upon the threshold; only the trunk of Dagon was left to him."
"The received text here has `only Dagon was left,' which is manifestly impossible."[13] To remedy this ` impossibility' the text was emended in all the versions to read,' only the trunk of Dagon was left. However, the principal factor in Dagon's name ([~dag]) means ` fish,' and Keil described this old idol as, "A bearded man, wearing the ordinary conical tiara of royalty ...and the lower part resembling the body of a fish."[14] Therefore, we wonder if the Hebrew text of the O.T. (the received text) might be interpreted to mean that the head and hands (all the human parts of the idol) were cut off and only the fish part was left. "Thus he lay there in his true ugliness."[15]
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