Gog

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

1.  1 Chronicles 5:4.

2. GOG AND MAGOG. Magog was second son of Japhet, connected with Gomer (the Cimmerians) and Madai (Medes). In Ezekiel 38; 39, these two appear in the N. country, their weapon the bow, their warriors horsemen and notorious for cruel rapacity; probably the Scythians, the dominant Japhetic race between the Caucasus (Ghogh and Moghef are names still applied to its heights) and Mesopotamia from 630 to 600 B.C., who invaded Palestine and besieged Ascalon under Psammeticus.

Gog is the ideal head of Magog the land and people; also prince of Rosh (Roxolani), Mesech (Moschi), and Tubal (Tibareni);  Ezekiel 38:2, "the chief prince," rather "prince of Rosh" (the Scythian Tauri). Hengstenberg supports KJV. The names resemble Russia and Moscow, but Slavi and Wends were the ancient name of the Russians. In  Revelation 20:8 Gog and Magog are both peoples. The Scythians were expelled 596 B.C., just before Ezekiel wrote, after making their name a terror to Asia. The prophet naturally uses their name taken from familiar history to represent the anti-Christian confederacy about, to assail the Jews in the Holy Land before the millennium;  Revelation 20:7-9, to represent the confederacy headed by Satan, and about to assail the beloved city after the millennium.

Antiochus Epiphanes, the Old Testament antichrist, the "little horn" of the third world empire, who defiled Jehovah's temple and altar with swine sacrifices and set up Jupiter's altar there, prefigures the "king of fierce countenance" who, "when the transgressors shall come to the full, shall destroy the holy people" ( Daniel 8:10-26); "the king of the N." (compare  Ezekiel 39:2), who "shall do according to his will, and exalt and magnify himself above every god, and speak marvelous things against the God of gods, and shall enter also into the glorious land and plant the tabernacles of his palaces between the seas in the glorious holy mountain, and shall come to his end," through Michael's interposition, after a "time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation" ( Daniel 11:21-45;  Daniel 12:1;  Zechariah 13:9;  Zechariah 14:2-3). Gog represents antichrist the beast; Magog the ten kingdoms leagued under him (Revelation 16-17). Haughty, blasphemous self confidence is his characteristic (2 Thessalonians 2).

Sheba, Dedan, Tarshish, mercantile peoples, though not openly joining his invasion of Israel, yet from selfish love of gain, sympathize with it secretly ( Ezekiel 38:13;  Ezekiel 39:6, "the isles"); they shall therefore share antichrist's doom, the robber shall be robbed in righteous retribution, the spoiler spoiled, and the slayer slain. Where antichrist thought to find an inheritance he shall only find a grave, and that near his prototypes, the fire blasted cities of the Dead Sea. No weapon formed against God's people shall prosper ( Isaiah 54:17); not a fragment shall be left to defile the Holy Land.

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

GOG. 1. The ‘prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal,’ from the land of Magog (  Ezekiel 38:2 , and often in chs. 38, 39), whom Ezk. pictures as leading a great host of nations from the far North against the restored Israel, and as being ignominiously defeated, by J″ [Note: Jahweh.] ’s intervention, upon the mountains of Canaan. Whence the name ‘Gog’ was derived we do not certainly know: the name reminds us of that of Gyges (Gr. Guges , Assyr. [Note: Assyrian.] Gugu ), the famous king of Lydia, of whom Hdt. (i. 8 14) tells us, and who, Ashurbanipal states ( KIB [Note: IB Keilinschriftliche Bibliothek.] ii. 173 5), when his country was invaded by the Gimirrâ (Cimmerians), expelled them with Assyrian help ( c [Note: circa, about.] . b.c. 665); and it has been conjectured (Sayce) that this name might have reached Palestine as that of a distant and successful king, who might be made a typical leader of a horde of invaders from the North. That Gomer (= the Cimmerian), who was really his foe, appears in Ezk. among his allies, might be explained either from the vagueness of the knowledge which reached Pal., or because Ezk. had in view, not the historical ‘Gog’ but merely an ideal figure suggested by the historical ‘Gog.’

Upon the basis of  Ezekiel 38:1-23;   Ezekiel 39:1-29 , ‘Gog’ and ‘Magog’ appear often in the later Jewish eschatology as leading the final, but abortive, assault of the powers of the world upon the Kingdom of God. Cf.   Revelation 20:7-9; in the Mishna, Eduyoth 2. 10; Sib. Orac. iii. 319 322; and see further reff. in Schürer, § 29 . iii. 4; Weher, Altsynag. Theol . (Index); Volz, Jüd. Eschat . p. 176 (and index).

2. The eponym of a Reubenite family (  1 Chronicles 5:4 ).

S. R. Driver.

Easton's Bible Dictionary

The name of the leader of the hostile party described in  Ezekiel 38,39 , as coming from the "north country" and assailing the people of Israel to their own destruction. This prophecy has been regarded as fulfilled in the conflicts of the Maccabees with Antiochus, the invasion and overthrow of the Chaldeans, and the temporary successes and destined overthrow of the Turks. But "all these interpretations are unsatisfactory and inadequate. The vision respecting Gog and Magog in the Apocalypse ( Revelation 20:8 ) is in substance a reannouncement of this prophecy of Ezekiel. But while Ezekiel contemplates the great conflict in a more general light as what was certainly to be connected with the times of the Messiah, and should come then to its last decisive issues, John, on the other hand, writing from the commencement of the Messiah's times, describes there the last struggles and victories of the cause of Christ. In both cases alike the vision describes the final workings of the world's evil and its results in connection with the kingdom of God, only the starting-point is placed further in advance in the one case than in the other."

It has been supposed to be the name of a district in the wild north-east steppes of Central Asia, north of the Hindu-Kush, now a part of Turkestan, a region about 2,000 miles north-east of Nineveh.

Copyright Statement These dictionary topics are from M.G. Easton M.A., DD Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Third Edition, published by Thomas Nelson, 1897. Public Domain.

Bibliography Information Easton, Matthew George. Entry for 'Gog'. Easton's Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/ebd/g/gog.html. 1897.

Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary

GOG and MAGOG

Gog, whose name signifies roof, or covering, it should seem, was some prince; and Magog not a person, but the kingdom. So that it is Gog, and prince of Magog. Some have thought, that these names are general names for the enemies of the church, because they are spoken of both in Ezekiel's prophecy, and the book of the Revelation by St. John. ( Ezekiel 38:1-23 and  Revelation 20:1-15) It will well reward the reader to turn to the prophecy of Ezekiel, at the thirty-eighth chapter ( Ezekiel 38:1-23, in confirmation of this latter opinion.

The land of unwalled villages, and the people that dwell in the midst of the land, or as the margin of the Bible hath it, the navel of the land, can mean no other than Jerusalem, supposed to be the centre of the earth; and, therefore, the sea that bounds the borders in these parts very properly called the Mediterranean. And let the reader judge for himself how suitable it was, and proper, that when the Lord Jesus came on earth to do away the sin and guilt of all nations, the solemn transaction of his "one all-sufficient sacrifice and obedience unto death" should be set forth in the center of the earth, that like the sun in the midway of the heavens which illumines both east and west; so Christ, the sun of righteousness, might extend the efficacy of his light, and life, and warmth in every direction to his people; and his blood, as from the high altar of his own divine nature, flowing down, might wash away, from the morning of creation to the end of time, the whole of human transgression.

People's Dictionary of the Bible

Gog and Magog ( Gŏg and Mâ'Gŏg ).  Ezekiel 38:2. Magog was the name of one of Japheth's sons.  Genesis 10:2. It was also a general name of a country north of the Caucacus or Mount Taurus, or for the people of that district. Gog was the king of the country. This people seems to have sustained relations of hostility to Israel, and is associated with Antichrist  Revelation 20:8.

Morrish Bible Dictionary

Son of Shemaiah, a Reubenite.  1 Chronicles 5:4 .

King James Dictionary

GOG, n. Haste ardent desire to go.

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

(Heb. גּוֹג , Ant; Sept. and N.T. Γώγ , but Γούγ in  1 Chronicles 5:4; Vulg. Gog), the name of two men, but whether they have any connection is doubtful. It also occurs in the Samaritan and Sept. for AGAG, in  Numbers 24:7, apparently for the sake of specialty, tradition (Mishna, Shabb. 118) making the Messianic time to be distinguished by an antecedent struggle with Gag, as the Apocalypse does the millennium. (See Hamon-Gog).

As to the signification of Gog, it appears to mnean mountain, i.e. Caucasus (Persic koh, Ossetic ghogh, i.e., mountain; and even the classical name "Caucasus" originated in Koh-Kaf), since Caucasus was the chief seat of the Scythian people. The hardening of the last sound (h) into g (gog from koh) seems to have taken place early, and when the name had already become that of a people, the other names, Magog, Agag (Samaritan Agog, gentile Agagi, Phoenic. Agog) also arose. Another explanation from the Pehlvi koka, "moon" (see Grabschrift des Darius, page 64), because they prayed to the moon, is improbable. A Sheneitic etymology is also possible. From the reduplicated form גַּאגֵא (from the root גָּא , whence גָּג , a roof), in the sense of "to be High or Overtopping, " גּוֹג might signify a Mountain or summit (compare Arabic Juju, Breast of a ship, i.e., something heightened). Figuratively this stem would mean Gigantic, great of stature, Powerful, warlike (cognate with קִואּקִן of  Isaiah 18:2); camp. Sanskrit K Û , to be Mighty, Kavi (in the Vedas, Persic Kav), King, modern Persian Kay, Warlike or valiant; in which sense the Amalekite name Ageg or Agog, the Heb. name Gog, and the Phoen. Agog in the story of Ogyges, may be taken. In Genesis 14, Symmachus has taken גּוֹי , Goy, i.e . , heathen, for גּוֹג , Gog, and therefore translates it by "Scythians." — F Ü rst. Heb. Lex. s.v.

1. Son of Shemaiah, and father of Shimei, and one of the descendants (apparently great-great-grandson) of Reuben ( 1 Chronicles 5:4). B.C. post 1856. Most copies of the Sept., however, reads, very different names here.

2. In Ezekiel Gog is

(1.) the name of a mixed race dwelling in the extreme north, comprehended by the Greeks under the name of the Scythians; thence transferred

(2.) to the center and representative of their race, i.e. their king (Ezekiel 38:39). Gog comes forth from the distant north ( Ezekiel 38:15;  Ezekiel 39:2), the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal (apparently also of Siras), with his army of cavalry ( Ezekiel 38:15), marching against the people of Israel, where he is miraculously encountered ( Ezekiel 38:17-23) and annihilated ( Ezekiel 39:1-8). In the later tradition which sprang fronm Ezekiel's description, Gog along with Magog represents the mnixed population of the north, the Scythians, Caucasians, etc.

(3.) Gog is the name of the country of the people Gog, i.e. of the Scythians, but this only in the somewhat modified language of the Apocalyptic seer ( Revelation 20:8, Γώγ , together with Μαγώγ ), as it has become a geographical name in Arabic likewise; and this corresponds with the assertions of other Oriental authors, in whose traditions this people occupy an important place, as the name of a country (see D'Herbelot, Bibl. Or. page 528).

Interpreters have given very different explanations of the terms Gog and Magoag; but they have generally understood them as symbolical expressions for the heathen nations of Asia, or more particularly for the Scythians, a vague knowledge of whom seems to have reached the Jews in Palestine about that period. Thus Josephus (Ant. 1:6, 3) has dropped the Hebrew word Magog, and rendered it by Σκύθαι ; and so does Jerome, while Suidas renders it by Πέρασι — a difference that matters but little in the main question, since Σκύθαι , in the ancient authors, is but a collective name far the northern but partially-known tribes (Cellarius, Notit. 2:753 sq.); and, indeed, as such a collective name, Mageg seems also to indicate in the Hebrew the tribes about the Caucasian mountains (comp. Jerome on Ezekiel Ibid. ). Bochart ( Phal. 3:13) supports the opinion of Josephus, though by but very precarious etymologies. According to Reinegge (Descrip., of the Caucasus, 2:79), some of the Caucasian people call their mountains Coy, and the highest northern points Magog. The Arabians are of opinion that the descendants of Gog and Magog inhabit the northern parts of Asia, beyond the Tartars and Sciavonians, and they put Yajuj And Majuj always in conjunction, thereby indicating the extreme points of north and northeast of Asia (Bayer, in Comment. Acad. Petrop. 1). Nor are there wanting interpreters who understand by the Gag of Revelations the anti- Christ, and by the Gog of Ezekiel the Goths, who invaded the Roman empire in the 5th century of the Christian aera. (See Danderstad, Gog et Magog, Lips. 1663; Zeitschr. f. wissensch. Theol. 1862, page 111.) In the Apocalypse these names appear to symbolize some future barbarian or infidel enemy that is to arise against Christianity (Stuart's Comment. ad loc.). (See Magog).

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

gog ( גּוג , gōgh  ; Γούγ , Goúg ):

(1) A son of Joel, and descendant of the tribe of Reuben ( 1 Chronicles 5:4 ).

(2) The prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal ( Ezekiel 38:2 f; 39:1-16). His territory was known as the land of Magog, and he was the chief of those northern hordes who were to make a final onslaught upon Israel while enjoying the blessings of the Messianic age. He has been identified with Gagi, ruler of Sakhi, mentioned by Ashurbanipal, but Professor Sayce thinks the Hebrew name corresponds more closely to Gyges, the Lydian king, the Gugu of the cuneiform inscriptions. According to Ezekiel's account Gog's army included in its numbers Persia, Cush, Put, Gomer or the Cimmerians, and Togarmah, from the extreme North. They are represented as a vast mixed horde from the far-off parts of the North, the limits of the horizon, completely armed and equipped for war. They were to come upon the mountains of Israel and cover the land like a cloud. Their purpose is plunder, for the people of Israel are rich and dwell in towns and villages without walls. His coming, which had been prophesied by the seers of Israel, shall be accompanied by a theophany and great convulsions in Nature. A panic shall seize the hosts of Gog, rain, hailstones, pestilence, fire and brimstone shall consume them. Their bodies shall be food for the birds, their weapons shall serve as firewood for seven years and their bones shall be buried east of the Jordan in Hamon-gog and thus not defile the holy land. The fulfillment of this strange prophecy can never be literal. In general it seems to refer to the last and desperate attempts of a dying heathenism to overturn the true religion of Yahweh, or make capital out of it, profiting by its great advantages.

(3) In  Revelation 20:7 Satan is let loose and goes to the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to muster his hosts for the final struggle against God. In Ezekiel the invasion of Gog occurs during the Messianic age, while in Revelation it occurs just at the close of the millennium. In Ezekiel, Gog and Magog are gathered by Yahweh for their destruction; in Rev they are gathered by Satan. In both cases the number is vast, the destruction is by supernatural means, and is complete and final. See Magog .

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

Gog occurs; , and , as a proper name—that of a prince of Magog, a people that were to come from the North to invade the land of Israel, and be there defeated. In a different sense, but corresponding with the assertions of other Oriental authors, in whose traditions this people occupy an important place, Gog occurs in , as the name of a country.

Interpreters have given very different explanations of the terms Gog and Magog; but they have generally understood them as symbolical expressions for the heathen nations of Asia, or more particularly for the Scythians, a vague knowledge of whom seems to have reached the Jews in Palestine about that period. As a collective name, Magog seems also to indicate in the Hebrew the tribes about the Caucasian mountains. According to Reinegge, some of the Caucasian people call their mountains Gog, and the highest northern points Magog.