How many times is Dagon mentioned in the Bible?
The word Dagon appears 12 times in the King James Version, in 7 verses. Counting every form (Dagon, Dagon's), it appears 13 times in 7 verses across 3 of the 66 books. The World English Bible uses Dagon 11 times (13 with every form).
Dagon is the god of the Philistines, with a house at Ashdod (1 Samuel 5:2) and worship at Gaza (Judges 16:21-23). Beth-dagon, a place name, is a different name and is not counted.
Not counted: Dagon inside the hyphenated name of a different person or place, 2 times in the KJV: Beth-dagon (2). The World English Bible has 2 such uses.
Dagon in the King James Version and the World English Bible
Each form of Dagon counted in each translation.
| Form | KJV | WEB |
|---|---|---|
| Dagon | 12 | 11 |
| Dagon's | 1 | 2 |
| Total | 13 | 13 |
What the name Dagon means
Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary glosses Dagon as "corn; a fish".
This is the 1869 traditional meaning; modern scholars often read names differently.
See every name and place with its meaning and count on Bible names and their meanings.
Source: Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary (1869), checked 2026-10-24.
Which books mention Dagon most
Dagon appears in 3 books of the 66 in the King James Version. 1 Samuel has the most (11), then Judges (1) and 1 Chronicles (1).
First and last mention of Dagon
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.
And they put his armour in the house of their gods, and fastened his head in the temple of Dagon.
The verse that uses it most is 1 Samuel 5:4, 3 times (tied with 1 Samuel 5:5):
And when they arose early on the morrow morning, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of the LORD; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold; only the stump of Dagon was left to him.
Common questions
How many times is Dagon in the Old Testament and the New Testament?
In the King James Version, counting every form, 13 of the 13 uses are in the Old Testament and 0 in the New Testament. Dagon appears in 3 books of the 66 in the King James Version. 1 Samuel has the most (11), then Judges (1) and 1 Chronicles (1).
Where is Dagon first mentioned in the Bible?
The first use in the King James Version is Judges 16:23: "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." The last is 1 Chronicles 10:10.
What does the name Dagon mean in the Bible?
Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary glosses Dagon as "corn; a fish".
More word counts: Elam, Ramah, Moabites, Anak, Asaph, year, Mephibosheth, Benaiah, or all 635 words.
Counted by Bible Says About from the full public-domain text of the King James Version (1769 edition) and the World English Bible. Verse text only: headings and psalm titles are left out. A word is a run of letters: a hyphenated name like Beer-sheba counts as two, and an apostrophe stays inside its word (LORD'S is one). Matching ignores capital letters. Data compiled 2026-10-24.