Moses speaks of Magog, son of Japheth, but says nothing of Gog, Gen 10:2. According to Ezekiel, Gog was prince of Magog, Eze 38:2-3, &c; Eze 39:1-2, &c. Magog signifies the country or people, and Gog the king of that country; the general name of the northern nations of Europe and Asia, or the districts north of the Caucasus, or Mount Taurus. The prophecy of Ezekiel, Eze 39:1-22, seems to be revived in the Apocalypse, where the hosts of Gog and Magog are represented as coming to invade “the beloved city,” and perishing with immense slaughter likewise in Armageddon, “the mount of Mageddo,” or Megiddo, Rev 16:14-16; Rev 20:7-10.
Are usually spoken of together in Scripture. In Gen 10:2, Magog, which seems to denote a country with its people, is reckoned among the descendants of Japheth. In Eze 38:1-23 ; 39:1-29, Magog apparently signifies a country with its people, and Gog the king of that people; but critics are much divided as to the people and country intended under these names. The Scythians, the Goths, the Persians, and several other nations, have been specified by interpreters as the Magog of the Scriptures; but most probably it is a name given generally to the northern nations of Europe and Asia, or the districts north of the Caucasus. The names reappear in the later predictions of John as enemies of the people of God, who are to be signally overthrown in Armageddon, Jer 16:14-16 ; 20:7-9.\par
GOG is a symbolical name for the powerful and proud chief of the vast hordes of Scythia and Tartary. MAGOG, the son of Japheth (Gen 10:2), whose descendants spread over the vast steppes in the north, after whom the land is here called. Eze 38:2 should read "Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal." Gog is the prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal answering to Russia, Moscow or Muscovy, and Tobolsk: all now in the Russian empire. These, ’coming out of the north,’ as a cloud to cover the land,’ will attack Israel in the land of Palestine, but will be smitten by God. Eze 38:2; Eze 38:18; Eze 39:1; Eze 39:6; Eze 39:11. The valley where they will be buried will be called HAMON-GOG, the ’multitude of Gog,’ Eze 39:11; Eze 39:15. The destruction of these hordes will cause the heathen to know the Lord, that is, the nations extern to the Anti-christian Empire of the West.
In Rev 20:8 we also read of Gog and Magog attacking "the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city," Jerusalem; but this must not be confounded with the prophecy in Ezekiel, for here they come out of ’the four corners of the earth;’ and the battles do not coincide as to time. In Ezekiel the attack is before Israel is finally settled in the land, as may be seen by the context; whereas in the Revelation it is after the thousand years of the millennium, and is followed by the final overthrow of God’s enemies who are led on by Satan. There is doubtless an allusion to the names in Ezekiel; ’Gog and Magog,’ being symbolical names, are employed to describe all the proud and powerful hordes of post-millennium times, whose number is ’as the sand of the sea,’ and whom Satan will collect together from all quarters to attack the kingdom of the Lord Jesus as established on earth, only to be devoured by fire from heaven: for Satan, when loosed, will not be able to raise up an empire against the Lord.
By: Emil G. Hirsch, Mary W. Montgomery
—Biblical Data:
Magog is mentioned (Gen. x. 2; I Chron. i. 5) as the second son of Japheth, between Gomer and Madai. Gomer representing the Cimmerians and Madai the Medes, Magog must be a people located east of the Cimmerians and west of the Medes. But in the list of nations (Gen. x.) the term connotes rather the complex of barbarian peoples dwelling at the extreme north and northeast of the geographical survey covered by the chapter. Josephus ("Ant." ii. 6, § 1) identifies them with the "Scythians," a name which among classical writers stands for a number of unknown ferocious tribes. According to Jerome, Magog was situated beyond the Caucasus, near the Caspian Sea. It is very likely that the name is of Caucasian origin, but the etymologies adduced from the Persian and other Indo-European dialects are not convincing. In Ezek. xxxviii. 2 "Magog" occurs as the name of a country (with the definite article); in Ezek. xxxix. 6 as that of a northern people, the leader of whom is Gog. This "Gog" has been identified with "Gyges," but is evidently a free invention, from "Magog," of either popular tradition or the author of the chapter. The vivid description of the invasion indicates that the writer, either from personal knowledge or from hearsay, was acquainted with a disaster of the kind. Probably the ravages committed by the Scythians under Josiah (comp. Herodotus, i. 103, iv. 11) furnished him with his illustrative material. As contained in Ezekiel, the prophecy partakes altogether of the character of the apocalyptic prediction; i.e., it is not descriptive of events but predictive in a mystic way of happenings yet to be, according to the speculative theology of the writer. Winkler's theory ("Alt-Oriental. Forschungen," ii. 137, iii. 36) is that Alexander the Great and his invasion are the background. But this anticipates the development of the Gog legend, which, indeed, saw in the Macedonian king the Gog of the Biblical prophecy (see Gog and Magog in Arabic Literature).
The Gog myth is probably part of a cycle which goes back to the Babylonian-Assyrian Creation accounts (the fight with and the defeat of the Dragon) and, on the other hand, enters largely into the eschatology of Judaism and Christianity (see Bousset, "The Anti-Christ Legend," London, 1896; Gunkel, "Schöpfung und Chaos," Göttingen, 1895).
For the rabbinical development of the legendary material in connection with the advent of the "end time" and the Messiah, See Eschatology.
—In Arabic Literature:
Gog and Magog, or Yajuj and Majuj among the Arabs, are mentioned in the Koran and by most Arabic geographers as more or less mythical peoples. The chief interest inthem centers about two points: (1) the wall built by Dhu al-Ḳarnain (Alexander the Great) to shut them off from the rest of the world, and (2) their reappearance as a sign of the last day. Geographically they represent the extreme northeast, and are placed on the borders of the sea which encircles the earth. Descended from Japheth, son of Noah, they number twenty-four tribes. Six of these are known by name (one being that of the Turks); and the number of each tribe equals that of all the other people in the world. Some say that they belong to the Chazars, who are all Jews (Yaḳut, ii. 440).
They are of small stature, attaining to only one-half the size of a man (another report, in Yaḳut, i. 113, makes them larger). Very ferocious, they have claws instead of nails, teeth like a lion, jaws like a camel, and hair which completely hides the body. Their ears, hairy on one side, are so large that they use one for a bed and the other for a covering. They live principally on fish, which are miraculously provided for them. They resemble animals in their habits; and Mas'udi classes them among the beasts. They used to ravage the country, devouring every green thing; and it was to prevent this that the people living near them begged Alexander to build the wall shutting them in. It is even said that they were cannibals (Baiḍawi).
The wall is generally supposed to have been at Derbent, although in later times it seems to have become confused with the Great Wall of China (Abu al-Fida). The geographers frequently quote an account of it given by Sallam, the interpreter. The calif Wathiḳ Billah had seen the wall destroyed in a dream, and he sent Sallam to investigate. The latter recounts marvelous things of the countries through which he passed on his way thither, and gives a minute description of the wall itself. It was built in a gorge 150 cubits wide, and reached to the top of the mountains. Constructed of iron bricks embedded in molten brass, it had a peculiar red-and-black striped appearance. In it was an immense gate provided with a giant bolt, lock, and key, the last of which was suspended by a chain. Yaḳut remarks on this story that God, who knoweth all things, also knows whether it be true or not, but of the existence of the wall there can be no doubt, since it is mentioned in the sacred book.
As one of the signs of the approaching day of judgment this wall will be broken down and Yajuj and Majuj will appear at Lake Tiberias, the water of which the vanguard of their hosts will entirely consume, so that the rear will pass over on dry ground. They will then proceed, eating every one they meet, even corpses, and every green thing, until they come to Jerusalem. Here, until God shall destroy them, they will annoy Jesus and his faithful companions. It is said that Mohammed gave Yajuj and Majuj an opportunity to embrace Islam on the occasion of his night journey to Jerusalem; but they refused to do so, and consequently are doomed to destruction.
Bibliography:
Koran, suras xviii. 94-99, xxi. 96; the Koran commentaries of Baiḍawi and others;
Bibliotheca Geographorum Arabicorum, ed. De Goeje, vol. iii.;
Mas'udi, v.; Ibn al-Faḳih, vi.;
Ibn Khordadhbeh, vii.;
Yaḳut, Geographisches Wörterb.;
Tabari, Annales;
Yule, Marco Polo, i. 52 et seq., 250, London, 1875.
Names, respectively, of a king and of his supposed kingdom, mentioned several times in chapters 38 and 39 of the Book of Ezechiel, and once in the Apocalypse (20:7). In the first passage of Ezechiel we read the command of Yahweh to the prophet: "Son of man, set thy face against Gog the land of Magog...and prophesy of him...Behold, I come against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Mosoch and Thubal" (38:2-3). A similar command is found also at the beginning of chapter 39. These two chapters contain repeated reference to Gog and Magog, but they furnish only vague and uncertain indications as to the identity of the ruler or the location of the country. In chapter 39 Gog is represented (verses 5 and 6) as being accompanied in his invasion of the land of Israel by the Persians, Ethiopians, and Libyans, Gomer, and...the house of Thogorma; and in verse 15 we read: "And thou shalt come out of thy place from the northern parts." From the number and variety of the peoples mentioned in this connection some writers have inferred that the name Gog may be only a generic appellation, or figure, used in Ezechiel to designate the host of the enemies of Israel, and in the Apocalypse to denote the multitude of the foes of the Church. Others conjecture that it may be a local title expressing the royal dignity, such as the name Pharaoh in Egypt. But it seems more probable that both names are historical; and by some scholars Gog is identified with the Lydian king called by the Greeks Gyges, who appears as Gu-gu on the Assyrian inscriptions. If this be true, Magog should be identified with Lydia. On the other hand, as Mosoch and Thubal were nations belonging to Asia Minor, it would seem from the text of Ezechiel that Magog must be in that part of the world. Finally, Josephus and others identify Magog with Scythia, but in antiquity this name was used to designate vaguely any northern population.-----------------------------------JAMES F. DRISCOLL Transcribed by Sean Hyland The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume VICopyright © 1909 by Robert Appleton CompanyOnline Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. KnightNihil Obstat, September 1, 1909. Remy Lafort, CensorImprimatur. +John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York