Editing Gog and Magog (section)

{{short description|Pair of individuals, peoples, or lands in the Bible and the Quran}}
{{For-text|the statues in London|[[Gogmagog (giant)|Gogmagog]] and [[Corineus]]|the ancient oak trees|[[Oaks of Albion]]|the hills|[[Gog Magog Hills]]|the album by The Trials of Cato|[[Gog Magog (album)]]|other uses|[[Gog (disambiguation)]] and [[Magog (disambiguation)]]}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2022}}
[[Image:Wauquelin-histoire-bnf-fr9342-fol131v-peuple-de-gog-et-magog.jpg|thumb|The Gog and Magog people being walled off by Alexander's forces.{{right|–[[Jean Wauquelin]]'s ''Book of Alexander''. Bruges, Belgium, 15th century}}|upright=1.35]]
'''Gog and Magog''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|g|ɒ|g|...|ˈ|m|eɪ|g|ɒ|g}}; {{langx|he|גּוֹג וּמָגוֹג|Gōg ū-Māgōg}}) or '''Ya'juj and Ma'juj''' ({{langx|ar|يَأْجُوجُ وَمَأْجُوجُ|Yaʾjūj<sup>u</sup> wa-Maʾjūj<sup>u</sup>}}) are a pair of names that appear in the [[Bible]] and the [[Quran|Qur'an]], variously ascribed to individuals, tribes, or lands. In [[Ezekiel 38]], Gog is an individual and Magog is his land.{{sfn|Lust|1999b|pp=373–374}} By the time of the [[New Testament]]'s [[Revelation 20]] ({{Bibleverse|Revelation|20:8|KJV}}), Jewish tradition had come to view Ezekiel's "Gog ''from'' Magog" as "Gog ''and'' Magog".{{r|boring}}

The Gog prophecy is meant to be fulfilled at the approach of what is called the "[[Eschatology|end of days]]", but not necessarily the end of the world. [[Jewish eschatology]] viewed Gog and Magog as enemies to be defeated by the [[Messiah in Judaism|Messiah]], which would usher in the age of the Messiah. One view within [[Christianity]] is more starkly [[Apocalypse|apocalyptic]], making Gog and Magog allies of [[Satan]] against God at the end of the [[Millennialism|millennium]], as described in the [[Book of Revelation]].{{r|mounce}}

A legend was attached to Gog and Magog by the time of the [[Pax Romana|Roman period]], that the [[Gates of Alexander]] were erected by [[Alexander the Great]] to repel the tribe. Romanized Jewish historian [[Josephus]] knew them as the nation descended from Magog the [[Japhetites|Japhetite]], as in [[Book of Genesis|Genesis]], and explained them to be the [[Scythians]]. In the hands of Early Christian writers they became apocalyptic hordes. Throughout the [[Middle Ages]], they were variously identified as the [[Vikings]], [[Huns]], [[Khazars]], [[Mongols]] or other [[Eurasian nomads|nomads]], or even the [[Ten Lost Tribes]] of [[Israelites|Israel]].

The legend of Gog and Magog and the gates were also interpolated into the [[Alexander Romance]]s. According to one interpretation, "Goth and Magothy" are the kings of the Unclean Nations whom Alexander drove through a mountain pass and prevented from crossing his new wall. Gog and Magog are said to engage in [[human cannibalism]] in the romances and derived literature. They have also been depicted on medieval cosmological maps, or ''[[mappa mundi|mappae mundi]]'', sometimes alongside Alexander's wall.

The conflation of Gog and Magog with the legend of Alexander and the Iron Gates was disseminated throughout the Near East in the early centuries of the Christian and Islamic era.{{sfn|Bietenholz|1994|p=123}} They appear in the [[Quran]] in chapter [[Al-Kahf]] as ''Yajuj'' and ''Majuj'', primitive and immoral tribes that were separated and barriered off by [[Dhu al-Qarnayn]] ("He of the Two Horns") who is mentioned in the Quran as a great righteous ruler and conqueror.{{sfn|Van Donzel|Schmidt|2010|pp=57, fn 3}} Some contemporary Muslim historians and geographers regarded the [[Vikings]] as the emergence of Gog and Magog.<ref name="auto">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b4MjAQAAMAAJ&q=vikings+and+gog+and+magog|title=Kings and Vikings: Scandinavia and Europe, A.D. 700–1100|first=P. H.|last=Sawyer|date=April 10, 1982|publisher=Methuen|isbn=9780416741902|via=Google Books}}</ref>