The War of Gog and Magog
Hebrew Bible
A Persian painting from the 16th century illustrating the building of the wallThe first occurrence of “Magog” in the Hebrew Bible is in the Table of Nations in Genesis 10, where Magog is the eponymous ancestor of a people or nation (without any accompanying apocalyptic symbolism, or mention of Gog, although “Magog” may mean “the land of Gog”):
2. The sons of Japheth were Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras[1]
3. The sons of Gomer were Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah.[2]
In this occurrence, Magog is clearly the name of a person, although in the anthropology proposed by Genesis, ethnic groups and nations are founded by, and usually named after, their founding ancestors. The names of Gomer, Tubal, Meshech, and Togarmah also occur in Ezekiel.
The earliest known reference to “Gog” and “Magog” together is also in the Bible, in the Book of Ezekiel:
38:2. Son of man, set thy face against Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him,[3]
3. And you shall say; So said the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, Gog, the prince, the head of Meshech and Tubal.[4]
Although it is clear (in the Hebrew) that here Magog is a “land” (eretz) from verse 2, and that Gog is a “prince” from verse 3, different identifications have been made. These are discussed after the text itself. The Interlinear Bible (Hebrew - Greek - English) states 2. as: “Son of man, set your face toward Gog, the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh,[disambiguation needed] Meshech, and Tubal; and prophesy concerning him.”[5]
10. Thus says the Lord “On that day it shall come to pass that thoughts will arise in your mind and you will make an evil plan:”[6]
11. You will say, “I will go against a land of unwalled villages…(FRZ)(FRZ: mostly refers to Iraq as Frz (Unwalled Villages) in the Book of Esther)[7]
12. To take plunder and booty…”[8]
13. Sheba and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, will say to you, “have you come to take a spoil?”[9]
They will be joined by Persians from the East, Phut from the West, Kushites from the South, and others. We are told that Gog dwelt north of Israel, but there is little else to identify Gog in the passage. Gog and his allies are to attack “a land of unwalled villages” to collect booty, but before attacking Israel itself will be reduced to a “sixth” of their size (Ezekiel 39:2). Their reduced army will be destroyed in Israel, their dead buried in the Valley of Hamon-Gog for all to see and comment on (39:15-17).
Addressing Gog and Magog, God describes how the attacks will be repelled (Ezekiel 39:1-16). The army of Gog and Magog includes people from the nations of “Gomer, Tubal, Meshech, and the house of Togarmah from the North”, all of whom are mentioned as descendants of Japheth in Genesis 10. God describes the aftermath of the battle later in the same chapter, addressing “thou, son of man”:
17. …,thus says the Lord, “Speak to every bird and every beast of the field, ‘Assemble yourselves and come,…’”[10]
18. “You shall eat the flesh of the mighty, drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams and lambs, of goats and bulls, all them fatlings of Bashan”[11]
Ezekiel (38 and 39) says that Gog will be defeated.
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