Magog ma'-gog (maghogh; Magog): Named among the sons of Japheth (Genesis 10:2, 1 Chronicles 1:5). Ezekiel uses the word as equivalent to "land of Gog" (Ezekiel 38:2, Ezekiel 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 (Revelation 20:8), and in this sense these names frequently recur in Jewish apocalyptic literature.
John A. Lees