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The Real Identity of Gog and Magog
"The Word of HaShem came to me, saying:
¨Son of man, set your face against Gog, of the land of Magog,
the head prince of Meshekh and Tuval, and prophesy against him.¨
Persia, Kush and Put are with them,
all of them with shield and helmet,
Gomer and all his bands, the house of Togarmah from the far north
and all his bands, many peoples with you."Yehezqel 38:1,2,5,6
The Prophet Hezekiel is speaking about
the nations that will come against Israel in the Last Times.
The interpretation of these peoples and
place names in the Scriptures must be founded upon sound historical research,
respecting the established laws of historical and comparative linguistics.
Equating modern English or any other language terms with the original Semitic
terminology must be avoided. The similarity in sound of an
ancient Hebrew word with a modern language word is absolutely negligible. The
Hebrew Prophets were not writing to a Western audience, and their terminology
should not be interpreted as such but rather from their own historical
standpoint. An essential linguistic principle to bear in mind is that in
Hebrew, as in any Semitic tongue, if a word migrates from one language to
another of the same stem, the vowels may all change, but the consonants will always remain the
same.
Care must also be taken to avoid
personal or political bias; when interpreting Scripture such trends must be set
aside. The priority of the written Word demands that Scripture be interpreted
with absolute honesty.
In fact, the popular teaching is that
these verses refer to Russia and her allies, which is fully wrong and
misleading. Actually, neither of these names may be in any way related to
Russia or Moscow.
The first term to be carefully examined
is a very common Hebrew word that has been often mistranslated, maybe in order
to give more support to the tendentious interpretation: the Hebrew
transliteration of the verse is N'SYI ROSH MESHEKH V'TUVAL, that means exactly "Prince
RULER of Meshekh and Tuval". "Rosh" is not a proper name, but it
means "ruler", "head", "chief",
"principle"; this is the same word used for "Rosh
HaShanah", "Head" of the Year, meaning "New Year", and
other similar terms. Nevertheless, this word of such an easy and simple
interpretation, has been often written as a name like Meshekh and Tuval,
obviously intending to equal this term with Russia. The first problem is that
there is absolutely no place on earth known by this name, Rosh. Of all the occurrences
of Meshech and Tuval in both Scriptural and historical writings, they are never
associated with a place called "Rosh" as the mistranslation would
suggest. The equation Rosh=Russia is only presumptive, as there is not any real
link between the two words. The name "Russia" came into existence one
and a half millennium after the Prophet Yehezqel wrote his prophecy, and has
not root in any Hebrew term but in the name given to Scandinavian settlers, who
founded the kingdom of "Ros" or "Rus". A further evidence
is that the transcription of such term into Hebrew is ROS [Resh+Alef+Samek],
not ROSH [Resh+Alef+Shin].
Who is Gog? "Gog" is known to
be an Anatolian name. It is reasonable to identify him with Gogis or Gyges
(seventh century b.c.e.), king of Lydia, who is called Gugu in the Chronicles
of Ashurbanipal. Such personage was known to the Prophet, who took him as
reference in order to point out a determined geographic area: Asia Minor.
Precisely such is the area (Anatolia, Asia Minor) that Yehezqel's prophecy intends to point out
under five names (Magog, Meshekh, Tuval, Gomer and Togarmah). These people were well known to the Prophet, and this seems clearly to
be the exact interpretation.
It seems unusual that such an irrelevant
king would be taken to symbolize a future chief of a great coalition of
powerful nations. It is not unusual in the Scriptures, indeed. For example, in
Bemidbar 24:20 it is said of Amalek "Reshit Goyim Amalek", that
means, "Head of Nations is Amalek" –and here "Reshit", a
term related to Rosh, head, is not taken as a proper name–. Obviously, Amalek
was an insignificant people to be qualified as "head of nations", but
the Scriptures apply such term in order to convey a precise teaching. The same
happens in Yehezqel 28:1-19, where we find an exaltation of the king of Tyre (a
wealthy city but certainly not an empire) in order to represent the king
of all wicked forces of the universe.
We have already considered which peoples
were originated in Magog, whose present descendants are mainly the Turkic
nations; some of them were confederated with Russia in the Soviet Union, but
they are separated now. Also the Balkanic branch of peoples coming from Magog
have broken their links with Russia, by which this son of Yepheth cannot be
associated with that nation in any way. The Turkic minorities still living in
the Russian Federation are irrelevant and now there are larger Turk communities
in Germany and America than there; besides this, Turkey has been historically
closer to Germany and is a solid ally of the western states, while in perpetual
rivalry with Russia.
The identity of Meshekh has also been
clearly exposed, yet it is pertinent to this chapter to confirm that Meshekh is
not related to Moscow, neither linguistically nor historically, geographically
or in any other way. We have already proved that the names MeSHeKH and MoSKVaH
in Hebrew are two completely different words (see Meshekh), and that the consonants cannot be exchanged to
convert one word into another.
Meshekh is mentioned in Bereshyit 10:2,
and is the name of a patriarch, not of a city that was founded more than three
thousand years later. In Yehezqel's times such name was applied to a people
already existing, with a determined territory and identity, that was quite
known by the Prophet. Such people was not the Muscovites (who are not an ethnic
group but just the citizens of Moscow, in the same way as New Yorkers are the citizens
of New York). Moscow was founded in the year 4907 (1147 c.e.) by the Viking
Yurii Dolgoruky, and the city was called that way in reference to the river
Moskva (muddy water), not to any previously existing people. The assertion that
Meshekh refers to Moscow is simply ridiculous – Where were Muscovites hidden
since Noach and Yehezqel's times until then? The answer is obvious.
The descent of Meshekh in present times
is to be found in western countries and partially in Transcaucasia, and still
in the land that Yehezqel clearly intended to show in his times, Asia Minor.
A similar and equally preposterous
meaning has been given to the name "Tuval", whose identity has been
on purpose transferred from the real people and place to the most unlikely
ones. The tendentious theorizers have hypothesized that this name would be
equal to Tobol' or Tobol'sk, in Siberia (why not Tuvalu, in the Pacific
Ocean?). It is evident that such assertion is not supported by history. First,
there is not any people called after the river by which they live, and Tobol'
is a river, not a people. The descent of Tuval, originally settled in Anatolia,
then in the Caucasus, migrated westwards to Europe, not northwards. Besides,
the peoples living in the Tobol' area are the Khantys and Mansys, also known as
Ostyaks and Voguls, that are an irrelevant minority regarding the population of
Russia. These peoples are closely related to Hungarians, which excludes them
from any relationship with Tuval.
Whoever intends to mention Russia by her
main cities, will not say "Moscow and Tobol'sk", but rather
"Moscow and Petersburg", or else Novgorod, Vladimyr, Kazan' or any
other city either important or at least historically relevant.
The Prophet did not know anything about
Tobol'sk (as he did not know about Moscow either), but he was speaking of a
land and people with which he was well acquainted.
Concerning the identity of Persia, Kush
and Put there is no argument. Persia cannot be other than Iran. Put is Libya,
though may be extended to all North-Africa (except Egypt). Kush usually refers
to the land in the south of Egypt that historically is Ethiopia;
notwithstanding, being the present-day Ethiopia not hostile to Israel, the
identification of Kush with Sudan is also valid and the most likely. However, the
Biblical Kush may be also understood as present-day Iraq and the Arabian
Peninsula; consequently, the expression "Kush and Put" may indicate
the modern Arab states.
Gomer, obviously, not only bears no
relation to Russia but also is fully identified with Western Europe and the
United States. There is no objection against the fact that Gomer refers mainly
to Celtic peoples, including Gaul, Britons and Irish, that now represent not
only the Western European nations but also the leadership of the United States.
The last member of this coalition is
Togarmah, whose identification is also widely acknowledged as well as the
geographical location, that in Yehezqel's times was in the Eastern Anatolia,
around Mount Ararat, the historic Armenia.
There is a remarkable detail regarding
this land: the Prophet states clearly that Togarmah is coincident with
"the far north", and this excludes any land beyond Armenia towards
north. Scriptural terminology must not be forced into a present-day map, and
expressions must not be taken isolate out of the context. To Yehezqel the
"farthest north" was Asia Minor, and to extend the Prophet's frame of
reference any further, without exegetical warrant, is not correct. Togarmah is
exactly the southernmost boundary of Russia, not the northern part. It is once
more demonstrated that, if there is a nation that has not anything to share
with Gog's coalition, that is Russia.
In the Scriptures, as well as in any
other Hebrew source, definitions are usually related to Israel's geographic
position within the parts of the world known to the authors. Another example
can be quoted from the Gospels, where the expression "The queen of the
South... she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of
Shlomoh" (Luke 11:31): This verse obviously refers to Yemen as "the
south" and "the ends of the earth", and nobody has ever
suggested that such expression may be identified with the Antarctica, Argentina,
Australia or South-Africa, which are actually the southernmost parts of the
earth.
What has been exposed in this chapter
should be enough to have a clear view about this subject, anyway, it is
interesting to consider further facts that allow an even deeper understanding.
The Prophet has mentioned by name the nations that participate in the
coalition, and has obviously omitted those that do not participate. It is
significant that two peoples closely related to Togarmah are excluded: ASHKENAZ
and RIPHAT.
Even
though it is clear that the Prophet is referring to Japhetic peoples settled in
the area of Anatolia (Magog, Meshekh, Tuval, Gomer and Togarmah), he has
deliberately omitted these two, precisely, the only ones that are related to
Russia!
Riphat was in Yehezqel's times still settled in Paphlagonia, Asia Minor;
nevertheless, the Prophet knows that this people will not join the future
alliance of which Gog is the leader. Riphat was the ancestor of all Slavic
peoples, including those that became Russians.
Ashkenaz was sharing part of Togarmah's
land then, but another branch of this people was already in the territory that
now is Ukraine and Southern Russia. If Yehezqel would have intended to include
Russia in his prophecy, would have not omitted Ashkenaz. The first time that
the name "Ros", "Rus", "Russia" is mentioned in
history concerns the state founded by Scandinavians (an Ashkenazic people) in
the Slavic/Finnic territories between the Baltic Sea and the Black and Caspian
Seas, namely, present-day Russia.
The conclusion is very evident: would
anybody who intends to point out Russia avoid mentioning the main components of
that nation, the Rus (Ashkenaz) and the Slavs (Riphat)? Obviously not, as
nobody would omit the Anglo-Saxons if the subject is England, or refer to Italy
by mentioning the Germanic minority of the Südtirol and neglecting Italians.
A further historic analysis demonstrates
that Russia not only is not related to Magog and Meshekh but also that has
always been opposed with hostility towards them. Before Russia came into
existence, Scythians, Avars, Alans, Huns and other peoples of the stock of
Magog and Meshekh were indeed settled in the Eurasian plains, until Slavic
peoples replaced them and the Rus displaced and fought them.
In a subsequent period, the Kievan Rus
fell under Tatar hordes that ruled over Russia for more than two centuries,
when Russians achieved in shaking off the Tatar domination and even conquered
all the lands beyond the Urals.
Paradoxically, if there is a nation that
has never reached any agreement with the descent of Magog, that nation is
Russia! The historic rivalry with Turkey is a further proof.
Conclusion:
There are two possible interpretations
of Yehezqel's prophecy: the Prophet may refer either 1) to these peoples
according to their geographic position in his time or else 2) to the same
peoples in the future.
1) What he prophesied, then, is an
end-time battle involving the following nations coming against Israel: Turkey
(Magog, Meshech, Tubal, Gomer, Togarmah); Iran (Persia), Sudan and Arabia
(Kush), and Libya (Put).
2) Gog is not called "king",
but "head prince", that means, one that leads a coalition of states
not being the actual ruler of each of them. He is an international leader. This
aspect fits with the present world political situation. Turkey is the land from
which Israel will be attacked, as clearly stated by the geographic description
given by the Prophet, yet, the leader may be someone from other nation. The descent
of these peoples are now present in western nations, among which the following:
British Isles: Celtic, Gaels, Irish,
Welsh, Britons (Gomer); Scots (Magog, according to the Milesian genealogy);
Anglo-Saxons (Gomer, Magog and Meshekh).
France: Gaul, Britons (Gomer); Franks,
Goths, other Germanic peoples (Gomer, Magog and Meshekh); Gascons (Tuval).
Spain: Celtiberians (Gomer and Tuval);
Basques (Tuval); Goths (Meshekh).
United States: every one of the above
mentioned, though the leadership is from British/Irish stock (Gomer, Magog).
Besides, this nation includes a large number of people of African stock (Kush
and Put).
Turkey is the main ally of these
countries in the Middle East. Their apparent "friendship" with Israel
should not be misleading. Of course, the present political evolution does not
discard the possibility that Russia may join them in the future, but according
to the prophecy she will not.
