magog Summary and Overview

region of Gog, the second of the "sons" of Japheth (Gen. 10:2; 1 Chr. 1:5). In Ezekiel (38:2; 39:6) it is the name of a nation, probably some Scythian or Tartar tribe descended from Japheth. They are described as skilled horsemen, and expert in the use of the bow. The Latin father Jerome says that this word denotes "Scythian nations, fierce and innumerable, who live beyond the Caucasus and the Lake Maeotis, and near the Caspian Sea, and spread out even onward to India." Perhaps the name "represents the Assyrian Mat Gugi, or 'country of Gugu,' the Gyges of the Greeks" (Sayce's Races, etc.).

(region of Gog). In #Ge 10:2| Magog appears as the second son of Japheth; in #Eze 38:2; 39:1,6| it appears as a country or people of which Gog was the prince. The notices of Magog would lead us to fix a northern locality: it is expressly stated by Ezekiel that "he was to come up from the sides of the north," #Eze 39:2| from a country adjacent to that of Togarmah or Armenia, ch. 58:6 and not far from "the isles" or maritime regions of Europe. ch. #Eze 39:6| The people of Magog further appear as having a force of cavalry, #Eze 38:16| and as armed with the bow. ch. #Eze 39:3| From the above data, may conclude that Magog represents the important race of the Scythians.

MA'GOG (region of Gog), the second son of Japheth, Gen 10:2; 1 Chr 1:5, and the name of a people descending from him, or the country inhabited by that people, and of which Gog was the king. Eze 38:2; Eze 39:1, 1 Chr 24:6, etc. In the Middle Ages the Syrians applied the name of Magog to Asiatic Tartary, and the Arabians to the region between the Caspian and the Black Seas. Generally the people of Magog are identified with the Scythians, who, in the times when Ezekiel wrote, were well known in Western Asia. Descending from the Caucasian mountain-regions in the beginning of the seventh century b.c, they conquered Sardis, the capital of Lydia, in 629, and defeated Cyaxares, king of Media, in 624. They penetrated even into Egypt, but were bribed off by Psammetichus. They were not expelled, however, from Western Asia until the beginning of the next century. By Ezekiel they are described as excellent horsemen, skilled in the use of the bow, Eze 38:15; Eze 39:3, and exactly the same traits are prominent in the descriptions of the Scythians by the classical historians. In Rev 20:7-9 the terms Gog and Magog are evidently used as types of the enemies of Christianity. See Gog.

Genesis 10:2; Ezekiel 38-39. A race, like Gomer (the Cimmerians), dwelling in the N. country. Its weapon was the bow, its warriors were all horsemen. Probably the European Scythians, dominant in the region between the Caucasus and Mesopotamia for 30 years from 630 to 600 B.C., who were famous for the bow and fought almost wholly on horseback. They invaded Israel, and besieged Ascalon under the Egyptian Psamineticus. They appear in Ezekiel inhabiting "the sides (the remote recesses) of the N.," adjacent to Togarmah (Armenia) and the "isles," i.e. maritime regions of Europe (Ezekiel 39:2; Ezekiel 39:8; Ezekiel 39:6; Ezekiel 38:6; Ezekiel 38:15). Connected with Meshech (the Moschi) and Tubal (the Tibarenes). Their own traditions represent them to have lived first in Asia near the Araxes, afterward to have possessed the whole country to the ocean and lake Maeotis, and the plain to the Tandis or Don. Mixed with the Medes they became the Sarmatians, from whence sprang the Russians. Derived from Sanskrit mah "great" and ghogh "mountain" (Persian). (See for the prophetical sense, etc., (See GOG.) The Syrians in the middle ages applied Magog as a geographical term to Asiatic Turkey; the Arabians applied it to the region between the Caspian and Euxine. Forced by the Massagetae from the N. of Caucasus, they swept down into Asia Minor, took Sardis (629 B.C.), and thence passed into Media and defeated Cyaxares, 624. Their name thus was a terror in the East just before Ezekiel's prophecies, and naturally symbolizes rude violence. Their origin is clearly Japhetic, as Genesis 10:2 implies.