Gog and Magog: The Textual Sources

Last week I posted some thoughts on Gog & Magog. I found sources difficult to discover, so in hopes of sparing others some struggle, I am posting and maintaining my notes here.

My apologies in advance for a methodical, plodding post, but as Freud reminded us, "Man is only Beast lest he tiptoe his way toward Grace."(1)

All of these references are discussed in Sverre Boe's Gog and Magog (expect for the last item on Bush), which is great resource, but the online text has a limited preview and printed copies are difficult to come by.

I hope to actively update this list, so lemme know if you've got any sources to add.

1. Bible: Definitively direct references
a) Genesis 10:2
b) 1 Chronicles 1:5
c) 1 Chronicles 5:4 (clearly a reference to a different “Gog”)
d) Ezekiel 38-39
e) Jubilees 7:19, 8:25, 9:7-8
f) Revelations 19:17-21& 20:7-10

2. Bible: Possible direct references
a) Number 24:7: KJV (Agag) vs. Sepuagint (Gog)
b) Deuteronomy 3:1, 3:13, 4:47 (Codex Vaticanus had “Gog”, but was corrected to “Og”, as shown in the linked KJV)
c) Esther 3:1 & 9:24 (one later Sepuagint manuscript has “Gogite” rather than an “Agagite” as shown in the linked KJV)
d) Amos 7:1: KJV vs. Sepuagint (which ends the verse with “And see! One locust is Gog, the king”) (cf, Joel 1-2 "locust motif" and the "prince" in Ezekiel 38-39)
e) Sirach 48:17: the Codex Vaticanus states “brought Gog into its midst” rather than "brought water", – but I cannot find an English translation of the Codex Vaticanus

3. Bible: Passages that may reference, interpret, or retell Ezekiel 38-39
a) 1 Enoch 56:5-8 (allusions to Ezekiel 38-39)
b) Zechariah 7-14 (perhaps read as a retelling of Ezekiel 38-39)
c) Daniel (significant portions may be read as reinterpretations of Ezekiel 38-39)

4. Qur’an (Koran)
a) 18:86 (Yajuj/Yajooj and Majuj/Majooj = Gog and Magog)
b) 21:96

5. Sibylline Oracles Book 3 (The chapter/verse numeration in Boe’s differ from the numeration in this source; here I provide this source's references first--followed by Boe's in parenthesis)
a) 3:393-397 (Boe = 3:319-22)
b) 3:620-656 (Boe = 3:512-513)
c) 795-911? (allusions to Ezekiel 38-39) (Boe = 3,635-731)

6. Qumran (i.e., Essene texts among the Dead Sea Scrolls) (Note: I was unable to find links to English translations of these texts--and quite frankly, I don't even understand what these abbreviations mean)
a) 4QpIsa a 8-10 III:21 (4Q161 8-10 col III:18-25)
b) Genesis Apocryphon (1QapGen) XII:12 & XVII:10,16
c) The War Scroll XI:16

7. Targumim (sorry--again, I have no specifics or links)
a) Targum Jonathan to Ezekiel 38-39
b) Targumim to Genesis 10:2
c) Targumim to Number 11:26
d) Targum Jonathan to 1 Samuel 2:10
e) Tg. Ps.-J to Numbers 24:17 and to Exodus 40:11
f) Targumim to Zech 12:10, to Isa 10:32, to Esth 5:1, and to Cant 8:4

8. Various rabbinic compositions (sorry--you guessed it, no specifics or links yet)
a) Targum Jonathan to Ezekiel 38-39
b) Targumim to Genesis 10:2
c) Targumim to Number 11:26
d) Targum Jonathan to 1 Samuel 2:10
e) Tg. Ps.-J to Numbers 24:17, to Exodus 40:11
f) Targumim to Zech 12:10, to Isa 10:32, to Esth 5:1, to Cant 8:4

9. Other
a) Flavius Josephus, Antiquity of the Jews, Book 1, Chapter 6, paragraph 1
b) 3 Enoch 45:5 – I could not find The Third Book of Enoch online, but see this (Note: Yajuj/Yajooj and Majuj/Majooj = Gog and Magog)
c) Liber Antiquitatum Biblicarum (i.e., Pseudo-Philo, or The Biblical Antiquities of Philo) 4:2,4 & 5:4 – Noah’s geneology (see also, this)
d) 1001 Nights, (p.19 in this linked copy) (Yajuj/Yajooj and Majuj/Majooj = Gog and Magog)
e) Marco Polo, (pp 235-236 in this linked copy) (Yajuj/Yajooj and Majuj/Majooj = Gog and Magog)
f) Ronald Reagan, 1971, dinner speech to California state legislators -- Sorry for the unreliable looking source—but know that this same speech is quoted on many other sites, including, in part, Boe’s thesis, which, I will relate here: "In the 38th chapter of Ezekiel, it says that the land of Israel will come under attack by the armies of the ungodly nations, and it says that Libya will be among them. Do you understand the significance of that? Libya has now gone Communist, and that's a sign that the day of Armageddon isn't far off. Biblical scholars have been saying for generations that Gog must be Russia. What other powerful nation is to the north of Israel? None. But it didn't seem to make sense before the Russian revolution, when Russia was a Christian country. Now it does, now that Russia has become communistic and atheistic, now that Russia has set itself against God. Now it fits the description of Gog perfectly.... For the first time ever, everything is in place for the battle of Armageddon and the Second Coming of Christ. It can't be too long now. Ezekiel says that fire and brimstone will be rained upon the enemies of God's people. That must mean that they will be destroyed by nuclear weapons."
g) George W. Bush, Jr.

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Footnotes:
(1) Though not specifically said by Freud, please chisel this on my tomb.