Magog (Bible)

Did You Know?

• The name Magog may derive from the Akkadian mat Gugi, meaning 'land of Gog', referring to Lydia.
• In the Book of Ezekiel, Magog is described as a pagan people living 'north of the World'.
• The pairing of Gog and Magog in the New Testament's Book of Revelation may be metaphors for archetypal enemies of God.

Ancient and medieval views

Josephus identified Magog as the progenitor of the Scythians, peoples north of the Black Sea, and stated that the Greeks called Scythia Magogia. An alternative identification based on the order of tribal names in Ezekiel 38 would place Magog between Cappadocia and Media. Rabbi Shlomo Ganzfried referred to the Mongols as Magog, citing an Arab writer who called the Great Wall of China by that name. Jordanes' Getica and the Historia Brittonum named Magog as an ancestor of the Goths, though Isidore of Seville attributed this identification to the similarity of the last syllable. Johannes Magnus wrote that Magog migrated to Scandinavia via Finland 88 years after the flood, and that his five sons were Suenno, Gethar (or Gog), Ubbo, Thor, and German; this account was accepted at the Swedish court and influenced the renumbering of Swedish monarchs. Queen Christina of Sweden counted herself as number 249 in a list of kings tracing back to Magog. Several medieval Irish chronicles, including the Auraicept na n-Éces and Lebor Gabála Érenn, described the Irish race as including descendants of Magog from Scythia, with sons Baath mac Magog, Jobhath, and Fathochta, and further descendants such as Fenius Farsaid, Partholón, Nemed, the Fir Bolg, the Tuatha de Danann, and the Milesians. A medieval Hungarian legend in the Chronicon Pictum held that the Huns and Magyars descended from twin brothers Hunor and Magor, with Magor identified as a descendant of Magog.

In Islam

In Islamic sources, Magog appears primarily as part of the pairing Gog and Magog (Ya'juj wa Ma'juj). In sura Al-Kahf, Dhul-Qarnayn builds a wall of copper and iron to contain Gog and Magog, warning that it will be removed in the Last Age. Sura Al-Anbiya mentions that the wall will be opened and Gog and Magog will descend from every higher ground.

In popular culture

In the TV series Supernatural, Magog appears as a warrior alongside Gog, and after being killed they are revealed to be primitive beasts of rock and sand. In the series Andromeda, the Magog are a hostile alien race that reproduces by laying eggs in human hosts. The Oddworld video game series features a villainous conglomerate named the Magog Cartel.