Nabo, as an idol, signifies prophecy and divination, and it signifies that after the revelation of the Gospel, it has become mute throughout the world. Similarly, the Seventy translate it as Dagon, although this term does not find its roots in Hebrew. Dagon was worshiped in Ascalon, Gaza, and other cities of the Philistines.
To elaborate from the specific to the general: these images were associated with creatures; not in the sense that the Gentiles’ idols were given as prey to wild animals, but rather that their objects of worship resemble beasts—especially in Egypt, where these forms received divine honors. Virgil notes the presence of "monsters of all kinds of gods, and the barking Anubis." Many Egyptian cities take their names from animals: κυνων from dog, λέων from lion, θμουις from goat, and Λόχων from wolf—ignoring the terrifying sounds of the Pelusians' bizarre cult practices. These, he states, are statues that cannot save their worshippers; they are nothing more than burdens to the priests, wearing them down to exhaustion. When captivity strikes, these idols, due to the worth of their metals, are the first to be taken captive and can provide no salvation for their bearers or themselves. It is not that these lifeless idols possess a soul or any capacity for suffering, but rather, in a figurative sense, their "soul" refers to the helplessness of these inanimate objects lacking any sensitivity.
Proverbs indicates that "death and life are in the power of the tongue" (Proverbs 18:21). This emphasizes that the deception of idolatry was an immense weight among the Gentiles, pressing its adherents to the ground, unable to offer salvation, and ensnaring their souls in the captivity of the devil and demons.
THEOSIS