Fertility Vs. Faith: A Comparison Of Two Deities

One prevalent message included in the Bible is that Yahweh, God of the Israelites, is the only God that should be worshiped by the people. It is impossible to say whether or not this was a commandment of Dagon, the Philistine god. Because all of the literature and monuments of the Philistines have perished we are left today to rely on the texts of the Philistine enemies, including the Israelites and the Egyptians.

Yahweh is a God of power; he deceived and punished the Pharaoh for enslaving his people, led the Israelites through the dessert and provided for them in the wilderness. He parted the Reed Sea and toppled the walls of Jericho. Yahweh made it clear that although there were other gods, he is the god and Shepard of the people of Israel and they should worship him exclusively. Ironically, it was somewhat common for his people to stray and worship other gods, constantly causing upheaval to th

I do not believe that religion was the real reason for the animosities between the Philistines and the Israelites. Often time’s religion is used as a scapegoat for ulterior motives. The two groups occupied the same land that happened to be placed very strategically for trade. The leaders were most likely looking out for the strength of finances and military for their people and so did not want the two tribes to intermingle.

The Philistines primary god was Dagon. One possible root of this gods name is Dag, or fish. Another possible root of the work is Dagan, or grains. Because of the climate of the land where they lived both water and grain were necessary for survival. Where as Yahweh was a warrior god and able to march in and overthrow a city without a single weapon, as in the battle of Jericho (Joshua 6: 1-27) , Dagon was an everyday god who was able in charge of the necessary aspects of day to day life, such as livestock and crops.

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Some topics in this essay:
Baal Baal, Jericho Joshua, Ba’al Canaanite, Jericho Yahweh, Philistines Israelites, Age Palestine, Yahweh God, Mt Sinai, Dagon Philistine, East Aegean, god able, yahweh god,