Originally published on 11 May 2024 via Deep Dive Bible Adventures.

Today’s post really “whacked me up-side the head” as the Holy Spirit gave me additional insights while I wrote this.

The text comes from Samuel chapter 5, the story of what happened after the Philistines captured the Ark of God in a battle.

As part of our “dive preparation”, you should know that the Philistines worshiped an idol of a big fish. The idol’s name was Dagon (pronounced “DAH-gohn”, and not “DAY-gone”). In fact, when people use the slang phrase “doggone it”, they are actually invoking the name of a Philistine demon-god. If that phrase is part of your vernacular, then you should be very afraid, because you are insulting the God of the Holy Bible.

The same is true if you use the slang phrase “holy mackerel”. Why? It’s the same idea. No one is holy except God alone. And, a mackeral is a big fish. So, you are saying that a big fish is holy. Can you see any difference between that and worshiping a Philistine demon-god? Neither do I.

Now that we know a little about who the Philistines’ god was, let’s examine who the Philistines were — and are. (Yes, they are still around. Are you surprised?) The capital city of the Philistines was — and still is — Gaza. The modern Arabic word for “Palestinian” is the word Filistin (say that aloud…). They were the enemies of Israel 3,000 years ago, and they still are. There is no “land of Palestine” that the Israelis somehow “occupy”. The word Filistin in Hebrew means “invader”.

So, if the Philistines/Palestinians are the invaders of Israel, then where did they come from? Some people try to say that “we cannot know”, but the Holy Bible states it plainly. Amos 9:7 says, “…the Philistines from Caphtor.” So, now that we know that the Philistines are from Caphtor, why does that matter? And, what does it have to do with worshiping a big fish?

Dive prep complete.

Caphtor was both a place and a people group. The Caphtorites (or Caphtorim, in Hebrew) were sons of the Casluhim, who were descendants of Ham. (see Genesis 10:13, op. cit.) Ham was the wayward son of Noah. He is the one that found his father drunk, passed out, and naked, and then he couldn’t wait to go snicker to his brothers — who put a cloak over their shoulders and walked backwards to cover their father without looking upon him. In short, Ham was an instigator and a troublemaker, and so were his descendants.

The Philistines were brothers of the Caphtorites. Both groups descended from the Casluhim, who descended from Mizraim, the son of Ham. (see Genesis 10:7-20) Mizraim was the brother of Cush, and thus he was the uncle of Nimrod. Another of Mizraim’s brothers was Canaan, from whom the Canaanites descended. The whole family was a “hot mess”.

Scholars believe that the Philistines settled in Egypt. There, they were exposed to (or themselves created) demon-god-idols that were part people and part animals. Usually, it was the head of an animal atop the body of a man. This is, of course, a slap in the face to Yehowah’s design of mankind in His own image.

At some point later, the Philistines moved into the “land of Canaan”. And, at some point, the Israelites also came up out of Egypt and settled in the same region. The fact that the Philistines were known as “invaders” is interesting. Apparently, they invaded not only the land of Israel, but also the land of their own relatives. The Philistines were the “odd cousins” in a very odd family.

Slight side note

All of the above is fairly well recognized in Bible research materials. Now, I will take you on a slight side note. Without going into all of the obscure research reasons why I believe this, I will simply state my “bottom line” conclusion. “Take it or leave it”, but it fits the rest of the story.

I believe that the Philistines and the Caphtorim may be the same people. A lot hinges upon the placement of the word “and” in Genesis 10:14. The Caphtorim were known to have settled on the island now known as Santorini. There, they performed genetic experiments that were far advanced for their time. The ancient Greek stories of the Minotaur (half-man, half-bull, that was locked in a cave on the island of Crete) are an example of those experiments. (In other words, the Minotaur might not be fiction!) This mixing of man and animal might have been the cause, and not the result, of the Egyptian idols! The Caphtorim were seafaring people. Thus, they could have sailed to Egypt and exchanged influences.

The genetic experiments were such an affront to God that they had to be stopped. If you look at a satellite photo of Santorini, then you will see that the famous harbor has some irregularities in its shape. I believe that the island was struck by the “fist of God”. (Look at the photo, and it looks like the imprint that a fist leaves in sand.) History scholars agree that the Caphtorian culture of ancient Santorini was suddenly destroyed by a violent seismic event. But wait, there’s more!

When God stuck the island of Santorini, the earthquake created a powerful shockwave. That wave traveled across the Mediterranean at supersonic speed and struck the Egyptian coastline. It then created ripples that disturbed the Red Sea. That event caused the waters of the Red Sea to part, thus freeing the Israelites and destroying the Egyptian army. (By the way, some scholars also think that Santorini was the capital of the lost empire of Atlantis — which was suddenly destroyed by a seismic event.) A few of the Caphtorians survived and escaped by boat to … the shore of Gaza, where they became known as the Philistines. Perhaps they credited their salvation to a big fish in the Mediterranean.

Back to the main story

Regardless of whether my hypothesis is correct, the historical fact is that the Philistines worshiped a big fish idol named Dagon. And, when the Ark of the Covenant of Yehowah was captured in battle, the Philistines placed the Ark in “the house of Dagon”. And, what happened next proves that “our God is God”.

As you can see from the Bible passage pictured above, Yehowah (God) humiliated Dagon — in his own house! It was a cosmic smack-down. And, when the fight was over, Dagon was bowing face-down before Yehowah. Further, in describing the events, the Holy Spirit inspired the Prophet Samuel to use the loser’s name ten times — just as Yehowah smacked down the gods of Egypt ten times. (Another reason that I believe that the Caphtorians’ experiments were related to the Egyptian “gods” — they both got similar punishments. Egypt got punished on a much larger scale, because they were a major empire.)

And now you know how — and why — God “spanked” a big fish.

And, keep in mind that God’s Son chose “fishermen” as His disciples. Hmmmmm….