Magog (Bible)
Magog (.
The origin of the term is not clear, this name indicates either a person, or a tribe, or a geographical reality (country or city). In the book of Ezekiel, the pagan Magog people live "north of the World", and metaphorically represent the forces of Evil, which associates it with Apocalyptic traditions.
Etymology
The origin of the name Magog is unclear. It has been conjectured to come from the Akkadian mat Gugi, "land of Gog", that is, the land of Gyges: Lydia.[1]
In the Bible
Magog is often associated with
Ezekiel 38 and 39 which mentions "Gog of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal" (Ezek 38:2 NIV); on the basis of this mention, "Gog and Magog" over time became associated with each other as a pair. In the New Testament, this pairing is found in the Book of Revelation
20:8, in which instance they may merely be metaphors for archetypal enemies of God.
Ancient and medieval views
Scythians, or peoples north of the Black Sea.[2] According to him, the Greeks called Scythia Magogia.[3] An alternate identification derived from an examination of the order in which tribal names are listed in Ezekiel 38, "would place Magog between Cappadocia and Media."[4] According to Rabbi Shlomo Ganzfried (19th century) Magog refers to the Mongols. He cites an Arab writer who refers to the Great Wall of China with the name 'Magog'.[5]
Finns
from Magog.
According to several medieval
Tuatha de Danann, and the Milesians are among Magog's descendants. Magog was also supposed to have had a grandson called Heber, whose offspring spread throughout the Mediterranean
.
There is also a medieval
Magyars, are descended from twin brothers named Hunor and Magor respectively, who lived by the sea of Azov in the years after the flood, and took wives from the Alans. The version of this legend in the 14th century Chronicon Pictum
identifies this Magor as the descendant of Magog, son of Japheth.
In Islam
Magog's appearance in the
Al-Anbiyā (The Prophets), the wall is mentioned again: there Allah tells His Prophet (Muhammad) that there is a "prohibition upon [the people of] a city which We have destroyed that they will [ever] return, until [the dam of] Gog and Magog has been opened and thou shall see them, from every higher ground, descending."[8]
In popular culture
- In the Supernatural, Magog appears as a warrior, alongside another named Gog. They battle protagonists Castiel and Dean Winchester. After Dean kills them, Magog and Gog are revealed to be primitive beasts formed of rock and sand, a type of creature Castiel had believed to have gone extinct during the Great Flood
- In the 23-minute epic Genesis song Supper's Ready from 1972 the "Guards of Magog" are mentioned in the 6th section entitled "Apocalypse in 9/8 (Co-Starring the Delicious Talents of Gabble Ratchet)". During live performances of the song lead singer Peter Gabriel would wear an outfit to represent Magog
- In the TV series Andromeda, the Magog are depicted as a hostile race of aliens who attack earth and decimate its population. They are shown to reproduce by laying eggs in human hosts only to devour the host upon birth
- In the Oddworld video game series, the villainous conglomerate opposing the protagonist in every game is named the Magog Cartel
Notes and references
- ^ Daniel Block (2013), Beyond the River Chebar: Studies in Kingship and Eschatology in the Book of Ezekiel, p. 107.
- ^ Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Book I, Chapter 6., Interhack Library
- ^ Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Book I, Chapter 6., Interhack Library
- ^ Encyclopedia Biblica, 1899. Entry on 'Gog and Magog'.
- ^ Scherman, Nosson. The Artscroll Tanach Series: Bereishis/Genesis. Mesorah Publications, 1995, p. 311.
- ^ Johannes Magnus, Historia de omnibus Gothorum Sveonumque regibus, 1554, I, Chapters 4–5, GMC., Cambridge Mass, oclc 27775895
- ^ "Surat Al-Kahf - The Noble Qur'an - القرآن الكريم". quran.com. Archived from the original on 2013-10-31.
- ^ "Surat Al-'Anbya' - The Noble Qur'an - القرآن الكريم". quran.com.
Bibliography
- (in French) Jocelyn Rochat, "George W. Bush et le Code Ezéchiel", Allez savoir !, no. 39, September 2007.
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