Gog and Magog

Gog and Magog
/gog" euhn may"gog/
two nations led by Satan in a climactic battle at Armageddon against the kingdom of God. Rev. 20:8.

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▪ religion and mythology
 in the Hebrew Bible, the prophesied invader of Israel and the land from which he comes, respectively; or, in the Christian Scriptures (New Testament), evil forces opposed to the people of God. Although biblical references to Gog and Magog are relatively few, they assumed an important place in apocalyptic literature and medieval legend. They are also discussed in the Qurʾān.

      In 1 Chronicles 5:4 (see Chronicles, books of the), Gog is identified as a descendant of the prophet Joel (Joel, Book of), and in Ezekiel (Ezekiel, The Book of) 38–39, he is the chief prince of the tribes of Meshech and Tubal in the land of Magog, who is called upon by God to conquer the land of Israel. With a great coalition of forces from throughout the world, Gog and his entire army will invade Israel “like a cloud covering the earth” (38:16) and will plunder and loot the cities. God, however, will send terrible natural disasters that will destroy Gog and his forces. The defeat of Gog will demonstrate the greatness and holiness of God and restore good relations between God and his people.

      In the Revelation to John (20:7–10), the names Gog and Magog are applied to the evil forces that will join with Satan in the great struggle at the end of time. After Satan has been bound and chained for 1,000 years, he will be released and will rise up against God; he will go forth and deceive the nations of the world—Gog and Magog—gathering them together in great numbers to attack the saints and Jerusalem, the city God loves. God will send fire from heaven to destroy them and will then preside over the Last Judgment.

      The biblical passages concerning Gog and Magog became the focus of later exegetes, who made repeated attempts to associate them with specific individuals and places. Gog has been identified by modern scholars with Gyges, a 7th-century BCE king of Lydia, and with the Akkadian god Gaga; and it has also been argued that the name Magog is derived from an Akkadian word meaning “the land of Gyges.” In the 1st century CE the Jewish historian Josephus (Josephus, Flavius) claimed that Gog and Magog were the Scythians, and in the 5th and 6th centuries they were held to be the Huns. Gog and Magog were equated with the Magyars in the 10th century and with the entire Muslim world, led by Muhammad and Saladin, in the Middle Ages. In both Jewish and Christian apocalyptic writings and other works, they were also identified with the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel.

      One of the most important legends associated with Gog and Magog was that of Alexander's Gate, said to have been built by Alexander the Great to imprison these uncivilized and barbaric people until the end of time. In medieval legends of Antichrist and the Last Emperor, Gog and Magog were allied with the armies of Satan. And in various prophetic texts, Gog and Magog participated in the persecutions led by Antichrist, preceded Antichrist as a sign of his coming, or emerged following the defeat of Antichrist in the struggle prior to the Last Judgment. According to Joachim Of Fiore, a Calabrian abbot and theologian, Gog is the “Final Antichrist.” In Joachim's view, Gog will come just before the Last Judgment but only after the defeat of an earlier antichrist and a period of millennial peace.

      An independent legend of Gog and Magog surrounds two colossal wooden effigies in the Guildhall, London. They are thought to represent two giants who were taken to London to serve as porters at the gate of the royal palace after their race was destroyed by Brutus the Trojan, the legendary founder of London (Troia Nova, or New Troy). Effigies of Gog and Magog have existed in London from the time of Henry V (reigned 1413–22). The first figures were destroyed in the Great Fire (1666) and were replaced in 1708. The second pair was destroyed in a German air raid in 1940 and again replaced in 1953.

      In the legends recounted by the medieval English historian Geoffrey Of Monmouth, Gogmagog, or Goëmagot, was a giant chieftain of Cornwall who was slain by Brutus's companion Corineus.

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Universalium. 2010.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • GOG AND MAGOG — (Heb. גּוֹג וּמָגוֹג). Gog and Magog are first mentioned together in Ezekiel 38–39 in the vision of the end of days, where the prophet describes the war of the Lord against Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. After… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Gog and Magog — • Names, respectively, of a king and of his supposed kingdom, mentioned several times in chapters 38 and 39 of the Book of Ezechiel, and once in the Apocalypse (20:7) Catholic Encyclopedia. Kevin Knight. 2006. Gog and Magog     Gog an …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • Gog and Magog — [gäg′ ənd mā′gäg΄] n. [Heb gog, magog: see Ezek. 38:2] personification of the nations that, under Satan, are to war against the kingdom of God: Rev. 20:8 …   English World dictionary

  • Gog and Magog — A Persian miniature, Dhul Qarnayn with the help of jinn, building the Iron Wall to keep the barbarian Gog and Magog from civilised peoples. (16th century Persian miniature) …   Wikipedia

  • Gog and Magog — 1) The names of the two nations which will seek to destroy the kingdom of God, according to the Book of Revelation (20:8): Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, and shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the… …   Dictionary of Medieval Terms and Phrases

  • Gog and Magog — noun biblical names of the enemies of God s people who wage war against God at the end of the world in the Book of Ezekiel Gog is a ruler from the land of Magog but in the Book of Revelation Gog and Magog are nations under the rule of Satan •… …   Useful english dictionary

  • Gog and Magog — Gog and Ma|gog in old stories, the last two of a race of ↑giants living in Britain in Roman times. In the Apocalypse in the Bible they represent the future enemies of the kingdom of God …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • Gog and Magog — Gog and Ma•gog [[t]ˈgɒg ən ˈmeɪ gɒg[/t]] n. pl. bib nations led by Satan at Armageddon against the kingdom of God. Rev. 20:8 …   From formal English to slang

  • Gog and Magog — /gɒg ən ˈmeɪgɒg/ (say gog uhn maygog) noun 1. Old Testament a warlike prince and the country from which he comes to fight with Israel. Ezekiel 38. 2. New Testament two kings, agents of Satan, who are to be destroyed by God. Revelation 20:8–10 …  

  • GOG AND MAGOG —    names that occur in the Bible of foes of Israel, and designative in the Apocalypse of enemies of the kingdom of God, as also of a Scythian tribe N. of the Caucasus. The names are applied likewise to two giants, survivors of a race found in… …   The Nuttall Encyclopaedia

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