Gog and Magog and their history

Gog and Magog

The tradition of Gog and Magog begins in the Hebrew Bible with the reference to Magog, son of Japheth, in the Book of Genesis and continues in cryptic prophecies in the War of Ezekiel 38-39, which are echoed in the Book of Revelation and in the Qur'an. The tradition is very ambiguous with even the very nature of the entities differing between sources. They are variously presented as men, supernatural beings (giants or demons), national groups, or lands. Gog and Magog occur widely in mythology and folklore.

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

3. The sons of Gomer were Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah.
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:

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. And you shall say; So said the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, Gog, the prince, the head of Meshech and Tubal.
Here it is not clear (in the Hebrew) whether Gog or Magog are people or places, and 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, Meshech, and Tubal; and prophesy concerning him."

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:"

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)

12. To take plunder and booty…"
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?"
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 primarily includes people from the nations of Gog, Gomer, Tubal, Meshech, and the house of Togarmah from the North, the latter of which are mentioned as descendants of Japheth in Genesis (q.v.). 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,…'"

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"
Ezekiel (38 and 39) says that Gog will be defeated.

Qur'an

A painting by Qasim, 16th century, illustrating the building of the wallGog and Magog appear in Qur'an sura Al-Kahf (The Cave), 18:83-98, as Yajuj and Majuj (Ya-juj/Ya-jewj and Ma-juj/Ma-jewj or يأجوج و مأجوج, in Arabic). Some Muslim scholars contend that the Gog in Ezekiel verse 38:2 should be read Yajuj (there is a "Y" immediately before Gog in the Hebrew version). The verses state that Dhul-Qarnayn (the one with two horns) travelled the world in three directions, until he found a tribe threatened by Gog and Magog, who were of an "evil and destructive nature" and "caused great corruption on earth". The people offered tribute in exchange for protection. Dhul-Qarnayn agreed to help them, but refused the tribute; he constructed a great wall that the hostile nations were unable to penetrate. They will be trapped there until doomsday, and their escape will be a sign of the end:

“ But when Gog and Magog are let loose and they rush headlong down every height (or advantage). Then will the True Promise draw near - (Qur'an 21:96-97) „


The Qur'anic account of Dhul-Qarnayn follows very closely the "Gates of Alexander" story from the Alexander Romance, a thoroughly embellished compilation of Alexander the Great's wars and adventures (see below). Since the construction of a great iron gate to hold back a hostile northern people was attributed to Alexander many centuries before the time of Muhammad and the recording of the Qur'an, most historians consider Dhul-Qarnayn a reference to Alexander (see Alexander in the Qur'an). However, some Muslim scholars reject this attribution, associating Dhul-Qarnayn with some earlier ruler, usually Cyrus the Great, but also Darius the Great. Gog and Magog are also mentioned in some of the hadith, or sayings of Muhammad, specifically the Sahih Al Bukhari and Sahih Muslim, revered by Sunni Muslims.

Koka and Vikoka in Hinduism
The Kalki Purana, one of the minor puranas in Hinduism, mentions a similar Koka and Vikoka who will fight against Kalki. They serve as generals under the apocalypse demon Kali, not to be confused with the goddess of the same name. Modern scholarship dates this purana prior to the 16th century.

In Jewish traditions

In terms of extra-biblical Jewish tradition, Gog the "prince" has been explained being one of the 70 national angels – of whom all except one, Michael, the guardian angel of Israel , are fallen angels.[citation needed] According to this interpretation, Gog is the angel of a nation called Magog (literally meaning "of Gog" or "from Gog"). Gog in this view represents an apocalyptic coalition of nations arrayed against Israel. Some Biblical scholars believe that Gyges (Greek Γυγες), king of Lydia (687 BC-652 BC), is meant; in Assyrian letters, Gyges appears as Gu-gu; in which case Magog might be his territory in Anatolia.[citation needed]

In his book Antiquities of the Jews, the Jewish historian and scholar Josephus identifies Magog with the Scythians, but this name seems to have been used generically in antiquity for a number of peoples north of the Black Sea.