Here is a scan of articles from the Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible. It appears
That the names Gog and Magog simply represented to Ezekiel, his editors and later authors, a personification of enemies of those perceived as God?s people. It seems the words have evolved from a simple OT reference in Genesis to characters with a life all of their own, inspiring fear and alarmism in centuries of Jews and Christians. Unfortunately too many early pieces are missing to understand exactly why and how those names in Genesis came to represent this anticipated enemy by Ezekiel?s time.
Gog (gwg) occurs as the name of a mysterious figure in Ezek 38-39. Its etymology is uncertain. A derivation from Sumer-ian gug ('black spot', 'cornelian', or 'shining', depending on the identification of the root) has been proposed (A. van hoon-acker, ZA 28 [1914] 336), but is highly implausible. The connection with a hypothetical deity 'Gaga', mentioned in Ee III 3 as the vizier of Anshar (->Assur), the father of the gods, must be abandoned as the name of the deity in question is to be pronounced Kaka (D. O. edzard, RLA 5 [1976-80] 288; see also Surpu 59 ad VIII 30 on the reading A Ga-a-gi). No particular significance seems to have been attached to the literal meaning of the name?assuming that it was known to the author of Ezek 38-39.
In an attempt to identify Gog as a historical person, attention has been drawn to a city prince Gagi mentioned in the annals of Ashurbanipal (Cylinder B iv 2), a powerful ruler of a belligerent mountain people not far to the north of Assyria (Delitzsch, Lenormant, Diirr, Streck, see gronkowski 1930:162). More freqently, though, Gog is identified with Gyges (Gugu in the Rassam-Cylinder, II 95), king of Lydia (Delitzsch, see zimmerli 1969:942). Note, however, that the Gog of Ezekiel has the Cimmerians or Gomer as his ally, whereas the same Cimmerians appear to have attacked and defeated Gyges of Lydia. Such data suggest that Gog can hardly be identified with Gyges. Alternatively, Gog has been said to be the name of a country, Gaga or Gagaia, allegedly mentioned in the El Amarna Letters (EA 1:38). It has become
clear, however, that the writing isten kur Ga-ga-ya is erroneous for isten kur Ga-<as>ga-ya, 'one Kashkaean' (E. von schuler, Die Kaskaer [Berlin 1965] 81; cf. EA 31:25-27), so this identification must be abandoned as well.
Taking into account the 'prophetic' and 'apocalyptic' character of Ezek 38-39, many recognize in Gog the enemy of the final days. This implies that he is not a figure of the past but a person of the present or the future. Depending on the date of composition of Ezek 38-39, and the date of the eschaton as seen by Ezekiel or a later redactor, this enemy could be identified with an officer in the army of the younger Cyrus, with Alexander the Great, Antiochus IV, or many others in later periods.
Many are convinced that the name Gog is not related to a historical personage. The Septuagint manuscripts seem to confuse him with Og, the mythological king of Bashan (see also below). He is simply a cipher for the evil darkness of the north and personifies the powers hostile to the lord (ahroni 1977).
Many consider Ezek 38-39 to be a complex unity. There is no consensus about the history of its literary growth. Yet in recent literature most authors agree that 39: 1-5, combined with 39:17-20 and perhaps parts of 38:1-9, constitute the oldest layer.
In one of the later additions (38:17), a redactor notes that Gog, coming from the remotest parts of the north (38:15), is the one spoken of by the earlier prophets or claims to be that one (barthelemy 1992: 306). The reference is to the prophecies of Jeremiah (1:3-16; 4-6), and perhaps also of Joel (2:20), who announced the coming of the foe from the north. Most often this enemy is identified with the Babylonians or with the Scythians. In Ezekiel, the foe has mythological overtones. He is to come "after many days", "in the latter years" (38:8). In later tradition, these and similar expressions were used to denote the eschaton.
Gog's army, including Meshech, Tubal, Kush, Put, Gomer, Togar-mah (38:2-6), is paralleled by the peoples listed in Gen 10 (dhorme 1951:170-171). This suggests that the final days were imagined to correspond to the first. In 38:18-23, the battle of these days has an apocalyptic dimension as can be seen in the earthquake terminology which often accompanies divine manifestations and interventions (see Am 9). The scene is completed by a description of an exuberant meal, combining aspects of the apocalyptic feast on the mountain described in Isa 25:6-7 with the fearsome characteristics of the sacrificial meal pictured in Jer 46:10. The conclusion must be that, in the final redaction of Ezek 38-39, Gog is portrayed as a mythological figure personifying the eschatological enemy and the darkness of the north where he is located.
In the LXX, (Septuagint) Gog appears more frequently. In the third oracle of Balaam in Num 24:7, it is prophesied that the kingdom of the Anthropos (man) will be higher than that of Gog. In the MT (Masoretic) there is no equivalent for 'man', and Gog replaces the historical king Agag, defeated by Saul (1 Sam 15). The LXX has given an eschatological twist to the oracle (see gerleman 1947:132-146). In Amos' vision of the plague of locusts (7:1), the LXX translator read gog for gzy (mowings?), focusing on Gog as the leader of a threatening army represented as a swarm of locusts. In Sir 48:17, Gog seems to stand for the Hebrew mym. The Greek text can be translated as follows: "Hezekiah fortified his city, and brought Gog in the midst of it. He dug into the hard rock with iron and made wells for water". In the LXX B version of Deut 3:1.13; 4:47, Gog stands for Hebrew Og (king of Bashan). On the other hand, P 967 reads Og instead of Gog in Ez 38:2.
In the intertestamental texts and in Qum-ran, Gog is rarely mentioned (Sib. Or. 3,319-320). Rabbinic literature often mentions Gog and Magog as leaders of the enemy destined to attack the faithful in the Messianic Age; e.g. b.Ab.Zar. 3b: "When they witness the war of Gog and Magog, he will say to them, 'Against whom have you come?' They will say, 'Against the lord and against his Anointed'", compare b.Ber.7b; Tg. Neof. Nu 11:26 ? Eldad and Medad prophesied that in the end of the days, Gog and Magog will come up agaist Jerusalem with their army, and will fall by the hand of the king Messiah?.
In early Christianity they were often identified with the Romans and their emperor??
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Magog (mdgog) is known from the Bible only at (Gen 10:2; Ezek 38-39; 1 Chr 1:5). Together with Gog, Magog came to be used in traditions harking back to Ezek 38-39 as a symbol of the superhuman adversaries of God and his people at the end of time.
The etymology of Magog is uncertain. The word is almost certainly related to, and maybe derived from, Gog. The ma at the beginning of the word may be understood as representing the Assyrian determinative mat (status constructus of matu, 'country'), indicating that the following word is a country, e.g. * mal Gaga (usually transliterated as * kur Gaga) or it may be seen as an abbreviation of Heb mm ('from'), or as a mem-locale, indicating a land. The interpretation of Magog is intimately connected with that of Gog, then.
A derivation of Gog from Sumerian gug ('black spot', 'cornelian', or 'shining', depending on the identification of the root) has been proposed (A. van hoonacker, Elements sumeriens dans le livre d'Ezechiel?, ZA 28 [1914] 333-336, esp. 336), but is highly implausible. The connection with a hypothetical deity 'Gaga', mentioned in Ee III 3 as the vizier of Anshar (->Assur), the father of the gods, must be abandoned since the name of the deity in question is to be pronounced Kaka (D. O. edzard, RLA 5 [1976-80] 288; see also E. reiner, Surpu, 59 ad VIII 30 on the reading A Ga-a-gi). No particular significance seems to have been attached to the literal meaning of the name Gog; the same would hold for Magog, if the latter is derived from the former. If Gog were a Hebrew caique on the name of the Lydian king Gyges (Akk Gugu), then Magog might mean 'Land of Gyges'.
Alternatively, Gog may be a derivation of Magog. The latter may refer to the Magi living in the neighborhood of Cappadocia and Media, or it may refer to Babylon: Mgg could be a cryptogram for Babel. Writing backwards and substituting for each letter the one preceding it in the Hebrew alphabet, one obtains i.e. Babylon. Compare Jer 25:26; 51:41 where the enigmatic Sheshach can be read as Babel by means of 'atbas, a process whereby the alphabet is folded in the middle as it were, so that the first letter coincides with the last, and the others are similarly matched (brownlee 1983:107).
The major problem with this interpretation is that it overlooks the vocal w in mgwg. For a full survey of a large variety of interpretations see aalders (1951:10-49). aalders' own views, unfortunately, are heavily influenced by his dogmatic convictions.
Magog is mentioned in the table of nations in Gen 10:2, and in 1 Chr 1:5, as one of the seven sons of Japheth. Three of these sons occur in Ezekiel's Gog section as three countries or nations over which Gog is lording (Gomer, Tubal, Meshech: 38:3.6; 39:1). In Gen 10:3, Togarmah is listed as a son of Gomer. His name returns in Ezek 38: 6 as Beth-togarmah alongside with Gomer. In Ezek 38:5 three other nations are said to be with Gog: Persia, Cush, and Put. The latter two occur in Gen 10:6 as sons of Ham. Only Persia (paras) is absent from the list in Genesis.
In cuneiform texts the inhabitants of Gomer are known as the Gimirray, and in classical Greek literature as the Cimmerians. Originally they lived north of the Black Sea (Krim; see Homer, Od. 11:14). Later they defeated Gyges of Lydia and settled in Cappadocia, which is called Gamir by the Armenians. Tubal and Meshech are also in Asia Minor, in or around Cappadocia. Cush is the land south of Egypt, i.e. Ethiopia, whilst Put is Lybia, west of Egypt. Since Josephus (Ant. 1,6,1) Magog is usually identified with the Scythians who lived north of the Black Sea.
In Ezek 38:2 (cf. 39:6) the land of Gog is called Magog, or, perhaps more accurately, Gog is identified with the land of the Magog. In 38:2 'Gog' is loosely followed by 'land of the Magog'. It is probably a note of an editor who wished to identify Gog with Magog as one and the same nation, or as a person symbolizing that nation. This may be confirmed by the LXX, in which the use of the particle epi suggests that both Gog and Magog were understood as a country. The Greek rendering paved the way for the later view, according to which Gog and Magog were the names of two persons (see Rev 20:8). The LXX rendering of Ezek 39:6 has Gog for MT's Magog. This also seems to confirm that the names Gog and Magog were interchangeable.