Γώγ

From the study of Revelation 20:8

Range of meaning

In Genesis 10:2 and 1 Chronicles 1:5, Magog (G3098) is a son of Japheth, the ancestor of peoples to the north. In Ezekiel 38–39, Gog 'of the land of Magog', chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, leads Persia, Cush, Put, Gomer and Beth-togarmah 'from the remotest parts of the north' against a restored, unwalled Israel, and God destroys him with fire, hail and sword. Gog's historical origin is uncertain. Many scholars connect the name with Gyges (Akkadian Gugu), a 7th-century BC king of Lydia in western Asia Minor. Magog may mean 'land of Gog'.

Against the English

English versions simply transliterate. The key point is grammar. Ezekiel has a person (Gog) and his land (Magog). Revelation has two names set alongside 'the nations' as another way of naming them: the nations, that is, Gog and Magog.

How it drifted

Since the 19th century, popular prophecy teaching has matched Ezekiel's names to modern states, most often Russia. That reading is then carried into this verse.

Used elsewhere in the period

Septuagint Ezekiel 38:2 has 'Gog and the land of Magog'. The Septuagint also brings in Gog elsewhere: Numbers 24:7 has 'Gog' where the Hebrew has Agag, and Amos 7:1 has 'one locust-swarm, Gog the king', which shows that Gog was becoming an end-time figure. Josephus (Antiquities 1.123) identifies the Magogites with the Scythians, the archetypal barbarian horsemen of the north. Sibylline Oracles 3.319–322 and 3.512 speak of 'the land of Gog and Magog' under judgment. The Mishnah (Eduyot 2:10) mentions 'the judgment of Gog and Magog' lasting twelve months. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on Numbers 11:26 has Eldad and Medad prophesying that Gog and Magog will come up against Jerusalem in the last days and fall by the hand of the Messiah. Some of these sources are later than Revelation, but together they show that a paired 'Gog and Magog' had become a set phrase for the final enemies of God's people.