The Septuagint’s Clue to the Identity of Gog of Magog
By Bible Researcher Eli Kittim
The Hebrew Bible
כֹּ֤ה הִרְאַ֙נִי֙ אֲדֹנָ֣י יְהוִ֔ה וְהִנֵּה֙ יוֹצֵ֣ר גֹּבַ֔י בִּתְחִלַּ֖ת עֲל֣וֹת הַלָּ֑קֶשׁ
וְהִ֨נֵּה־ לֶ֔קֶשׁ אַחַ֖ר גִּזֵּ֥י הַמֶּֽלֶךְ׃
In the Masoretic Text, the Book of Amos, chapter 7 and verse 1, mentions ham·me·leḵ (the King). It also employs the term gō·ḇay, which means “grasshoppers” or “locusts.”
But let’s not forget that the Masoretic text arrived late on the scene. It began to circulate between the 7th and 10th centuries CE. In fact, the oldest, complete copy is the Leningrad Codex, which dates from the 11th century CE. And we also know that there was not one version but several. This can clearly be shown in the Jewish theological writings of the Talmud and the Mishnah where different versions are being adduced (see the textual history of the Hebrew Bible explained by Drs. Emanuel Tov & Michael S. Heiser).
The Septuagint
By contrast, the Septuagint (the Greek Old Testament), an early Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, was translated between the 3rd and 2nd centuries BCE. So, it’s a much older text than the Masoretic. Not surprisingly, the Dead Sea Scrolls, which date back to roughly 200 BCE, corroborate the accuracy of the Septuagint’s translation!
When comparing the Masoretic text with that of the Septuagint (aka LXX), we know from Deuteronomy 32.8, for example, that the LXX has the correct reading (sons of God) as opposed to the Masoretic text which has (sons of Israel), a late theological redaction. We can demonstrate the correct reading by comparing these texts to the older Dead Sea Scrolls, which corroborate the LXX version. The point is that the LXX is a lot older than the Masoretic and we need to pay closer attention to this text!
The Prophetic Book of Amos in the LXX
Amos 7.1 (LXX English translation by L.C.L. Brenton) reads:
ΟΥΤΩΣ ἔδειξέ μοι Κύριος ὁ Θεός, καὶ ἰδοὺ ἐπιγονὴ ἀκρίδων ἐρχομένη ἑωθινή, καὶ ἰδοὺ βροῦχος εἷς Γὼγ ὁ βασιλεύς.
Translation:
Thus has the Lord God shewed me; and, behold, a swarm of locusts coming from the east; and, behold, one caterpillar, king Gog.
So, the LXX gives us an insight into Bible prophecy and eschatology. The name Γὼγ (Gog) is also referenced in Ezekiel 38.2 ff. (LXX):
υἱὲ ἀνθρώπου, στήρισον τὸ πρόσωπόν σου
ἐπὶ Γὼγ καὶ τὴν γῆν τοῦ Μαγώγ, ἄρχοντα
Ῥώς, Μοσὸχ καὶ Θοβέλ, καὶ προφήτευσον
ἐπ’ αὐτὸν.
Translation:
Son of man, set thy face against Gog, and
the land of Magog, Rhos, prince of Mesoch
and Thobel, and prophesy against him.
As I’ve mentioned in previous publications, the LXX translates the term “Rosh” (Ezek. 38:2) with the Greek word Ρως, which stands for Ρωσία (the Greek word for Russia). Furthermore, the LXX’s Μοσόχ seems to be a close approximation to the modern-day term Μόσχα (the Greek word for Moscow, the capital and largest city of Russia). The earlier Ezekiel quotation referred to “the land of Magog.” In ancient times, it comprised the lands where the Scythians once lived, and thus represents contemporary Russia. Wikipedia confirms that this view was held by some credible historians of antiquity:
Jewish historian Josephus knew them as
the nation descended from Magog the
Japhetite, as in Genesis, and explained
them to be the Scythians.
Today, most Bible Prophecy scholars identify Magog as a reference to modern day Russia! Moreover, Amos corroborates Gog’s location as “coming from the east” (7.1 LXX).
(For further evidence, see “The Magog Identity” by Bible-prophecy expert Chuck Missler: https://www.khouse.org/articles/2002/427/print/).
Chuck Missler reviews the historical roots of the modern day Russians and the peoples to which Ezekiel referred when he prophesied about tha
The Gog of Amos (LXX)
The prophet’s use of the name Γὼγ (Gog) in the LXX suggests that Amos 7 may be a dual fulfilment of prophecy, that is, it may have both a short-term (prophecy of the northern kingdom of Israel) and a long-term fulfilment (prophecy of the end-times invasion of Israel). Similarly, Ezekiel 38 names a confederacy of nations that will invade many countries, including Israel, in the last days. According to Ezekiel 38 (LXX), the leader of that powerful coalition will be Γὼγ (Gog), the leader of Ῥώς (Gk. Ρωσία = Russia) and Μοσὸχ (Gk. Μόσχα = Moscow). If that’s the case, then Amos’ Gog would suggest that certain Biblical references to “locusts” and “grasshoppers” might have some relevance to Ezekiel 38 and the battle of Gog and Magog (cf. e.g. 1 Kings 8.37; Psalm 105.34; Isaiah 33.4; Joel 1.4; 2.25; Nahum 3.15).
Gog: The King of the Locusts
If Gog (Γὼγ) is the king of the locusts, according to Amos 7.1 (LXX), then the 5th trumpet of Revelation 9, which talks extensively about an invasion of locusts, may be about Gog of the land of Magog. In other words, Amos 7.1 (LXX) would suggest that the king of the locusts in Revelation 9.11 may represent the Russian Gog (Γὼγ) of Ezekiel 38. Perhaps the famous saying in Proverbs 30.27 (ESV) means that the king of the locusts is not a mere mortal:
the locusts have no king, yet all of them
march in rank.
Similarly, in Revelation 9, the king of the locusts is likened to “a star that had fallen from heaven” and who holds “the key to the … bottomless pit.” Later on in the chapter, he’s identified as the king of the locusts, “the angel of the bottomless pit,” whose “name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek … Apollyon,” meaning “destroyer” (i.e. Antichrist)! Revelation 9.1-11 (NRSV) reads as follows:
And the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I
saw a star that had fallen from heaven to
earth, and he was given the key to the shaft
of the bottomless pit; he opened the shaft
of the bottomless pit, and from the shaft
rose smoke like the smoke of a great
furnace, and the sun and the air were
darkened with the smoke from the shaft.
Then from the smoke came locusts on the
earth, and they were given authority like the
authority of scorpions of the earth. They
were told not to damage the grass of the
earth or any green growth or any tree, but
only those people who do not have the seal
of God on their foreheads. They were
allowed to torture them for five months, but
not to kill them, and their torture was like
the torture of a scorpion when it stings
someone. And in those days people will
seek death but will not find it; they will long
to die, but death will flee from them. In
appearance the locusts were like horses
equipped for battle. On their heads were
what looked like crowns of gold; their faces
were like human faces, their hair like
women's hair, and their teeth like lions'
teeth; they had scales like iron breastplates,
and the noise of their wings was like the
noise of many chariots with horses rushing
into battle. They have tails like scorpions,
with stingers, and in their tails is their power
to harm people for five months. They have
as king over them the angel of the
bottomless pit; his name in Hebrew is
Abaddon, and in Greek he is called
Apollyon.
Conclusion
Thus, if we read the Bible in canonical context and according to the principle of expositional constancy, we will come to realize that both the linguistic and symbolic elements of Scripture with regard to Gog, the king of the locusts, refer not only to the Russian Gog of Magog in Ezekiel 38 but also to the king of the locusts in Revelation 9.11, namely, “the angel of the bottomless pit,” whose “name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek … Apollyon,” meaning “destroyer” or *Antichrist*!
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(P.S. I’d like to offer a supplementary observation of Revelation 9.9-10. The aforementioned images of “iron breastplates” with noisy “wings” and “tails like scorpions” would certainly suggest some type of modern aerial warfare)!
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