Bible Strands
Judges 16:23
Now the lords of the Philistines gathered together to offer a great sacrifice to their god Dagon. They rejoiced and said, “Our god has delivered Samson our enemy into our hands.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The Philistine lords convene to perform a religious ritual immediately after capturing Samson. They address their assembled populace and their deity Dagon while celebrating a perceived military victory.
The words — The Hebrew סַרְנֵי (sar.Nei) identifies the ruling nobles who assemble, while זֶֽבַח גָּד֜וֹל (ze.vach ga.Dol) literally denotes a "great sacrifice." These terms ground the scene in an official, state-organized religious observance.
The thread — The Philistines place captured items in Dagon's temple in 1 Samuel 5:2 and 1 Chronicles 10:10, establishing a pattern of attributing military success to that deity. This celebratory posture directly contrasts with the prohibition in Proverbs 24:17 against rejoicing when an enemy falls.
Why it lands — The verse records the Philistines declaring that their god delivered Samson into their hands. It requires the reader to distinguish between human claims of divine endorsement and the actual narrative trajectory of events.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
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.
Cross-references
- Proverbs 24:17 Do not gloat when your enemy falls, and do not let your heart rejoice when he stumbles,
- 1 Samuel 5:2 carried it into the temple of Dagon, and set it beside his statue.
- 1 Chronicles 10:10 They put his armor in the temple of their gods and hung his head in the temple of Dagon.
- Job 30:9 And now they mock me in song; I have become a byword among them.
- Psalms 35:15 But when I stumbled, they assembled in glee; they gathered together against me. Assailants I did not know slandered me without ceasing.
- Jeremiah 2:11 Has a nation ever changed its gods? (Yet they are not gods at all.) But My people have exchanged their Glory for useless idols.
- Micah 4:5 Though all the nations may walk in the name of their gods, yet we will walk in the name of the LORD our God forever and ever.
- Romans 1:23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images of mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
- 1 Corinthians 8:4 So about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world, and that there is no God but one.
- 1 Corinthians 10:20 No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God. And I do not want you to be participants with demons.