region of Gog, the second of the "sons" of Japheth ( Genesis 10:2 ; 1 Chronicles 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.).
covering; roof; dissolving
(region of Gog ). In ( Genesis 10:2 ) Magog appears as the second son of Japheth; in ( Ezekiel 38:2 ; Ezekiel 39:1 Ezekiel 39:6 ) 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," ( Ezekiel 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. ( Ezekiel 39:6 ) The people of Magog further appear as having a force of cavalry, ( Ezekiel 38:16 ) and as armed with the bow. ch. ( Ezekiel 39:3 ) From the above data, may conclude that Magog represents the important race of the Scythians.
MAGOG
ma'-gog (maghogh; Magog):
Named among the sons of Japheth (Genesis 10:2; 1 Chronicles 1:5). Ezekiel uses the word as equivalent to "land of Gog" (Ezekiel 38:2; 39:6). Josephus identifies the Magogites with the Scythians (Ant., I, vi, 1). From a resemblance between the names Gog and Gyges (Gugu), king of Lydia, some have suggested that Magog is Lydia; others, however, urge that Magog is probably only a variant of Gog (Sayce in HDB). In the Apocalypse of John, Gog and Magog represent all the heathen opponents of Messiah (Revelation 20:8), and in this sense these names frequently recur in Jewish apocalyptic literature.
John A. Lees
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