Editing Gog and Magog (section)

===Midrashic writings===
The anti-Roman [[Bar Kokhba revolt]] in the 2nd century AD looked to a human leader as the promised [[messiah]], but after its failure Jews began to conceive of the messianic age in supernatural terms: first would come a forerunner, the [[Messiah ben Joseph]], who would defeat Israel's enemies, identified as Gog and Magog, to prepare the way for the [[Jewish messianism|Messiah ben David]];{{Refn|group=lower-alpha|The coming of the Messiah ben David "is contemporary with or just after that of Messiah ben Joseph" (van der Woude (1974), p. 527).{{sfn|Bøe|2001|p=201}}}} then the dead would rise, divine judgement would be handed out, and the righteous would be rewarded.{{r|shengold-jewish-encyclopedia}}{{sfn|Bøe|2001|pp=201–204}}

The [[aggadah]], homiletic and non-legalistic exegetical texts in the [[classical rabbinic literature]] of [[Judaism]], treat Gog and Magog as two names for the same nation who will come against Israel in the final war.{{sfn|Skolnik|Berenbaum|2007|p=684}} The rabbis associated no specific nation or territory with them beyond a location to the north of Israel,<ref>[[Mikraot Gedolot]] HaMeor p. 400</ref> but the great Jewish scholar [[Rashi]] identified the Christians as their allies and said God would thwart their plan to kill all Israel.{{r|grossman}}