Magog
Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897) · International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915)
THE DICTIONARY — Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897)
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.).
THE FULL ARTICLE — from the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915), general editor James Orr — public domain, printed whole.
ma'-gog (maghogh; Magog): Named among the sons of Japheth (Ge 10:2; 1Ch 1:5). Ezekiel uses the word as equivalent to "land of Gog" (Eze 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 (Re 20:8), and in this sense these names frequently recur in Jewish apocalyptic literature.
John A. Lees