1 And the Philistines tooke the Arke of God, and brought it from Ebenezer vnto Ashdod.
2 When the Philistines tooke the Arke of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon.
3 ¶ And when they of Ashdod arose earely on the morrow, behold, Dagon was fallen vpon his face to the earth, before the Arke of the Lord: and they tooke Dagon, and set him in his place againe.
4 And when they arose earely on the morrow morning, behold, Dagon was fallen vpon his face to the ground, before the Arke of the Lord: and the head of Dagon, and both the palmes of his hands were cut off vpon the threshold, only the stumpe of Dagon was left to him.
5 Therefore neither the priests of Dagon, nor any that come into Dagons house, tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod vnto this day.
6 But the hand of the Lord was heauy vpon them of Ashdod, and he destroyed them, and smote them with Emerods, euen Ashdod, and the coastes thereof.
7 And when the men of Ashdod saw that it was so, they said, The Arke of the God of Israel shall not abide with vs: for his hand is sore vpon vs, and vpon Dagon our god.
8 They sent therefore, and gathered all the lords of the Philistines vnto them, and said, What shall we doe with the Arke of the God of Israel? And they answered, Let the Arke of the God of Israel bee caried about vnto Gath. And they caried the Arke of the God of Israel about thither.
9 And it was so, that after they had caried it about, the hand of the Lord was against the citie with a very great destruction: and hee smote the men of the citie both small and great, and they had Emerods in their secret parts.
10 ¶ Therfore they sent the Arke of God to Ekron: and it came to passe as the Arke of God came to Ekron, that the Ekronites cried out, saying, They haue brought about the Arke of the God of Israel to vs, to slay vs, and our people.
11 So they sent and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and said, Send away the Arke of the God of Israel, and let it goe againe to his owne place, that it slay vs not, and our people: for there was a deadly destruction throughout all the citie: The hand of God was very heauy there.
12 And the men that died not, were smitten with the Emerods: and the cry of the citie went vp to heauen.
Dagon is broken before the ark. (1-5) The Philistine smitten. (6-12)1-5 See the ark's triumph over Dagon. Thus the kingdom of Satan will certainly fall before the kingdom of Christ, error before truth, profaneness before godliness, and corruption before grace in the hearts of the faithful. When the interests of religion seem to be ready to sink, even then we may be confident that the day of their triumph will come. When Christ, the true Ark of the covenant, really enters the heart of fallen man, which is indeed Satan's temple, all idols will fall, every endeavour to set them up again will be vain, sin will be forsaken, and unrighteous gain restored; the Lord will claim and possess the throne. But pride, self-love, and worldly lusts, though dethroned and crucified, still remain within us, like the stump of Dagon. Let us watch and pray that they may not prevail. Let us seek to have them more entirely destroyed.
6-12 The hand of the Lord was heavy upon the Philistines; he not only convinced them of their folly, but severely chastised their insolence. Yet they would not renounce Dagon; and instead of seeking God's mercy, they desired to get clear of his ark. Carnal hearts, when they smart under the judgments of God, would rather, if it were possible, put him far from them, than enter into covenant or communion with him, and seek him for their friend. But their devices to escape the Divine judgments only increase them. Those that fight against God will soon have enough of it.
Commentary by Matthew Henry, 1710.